Sweet thing
by littlewinter
Summary: One of the great advantages of having a werewolf as a boyfriend was that he mostly was walking around half naked – and with a valid excuse. The only downside combined with this was having a mind-reading father. But when the father was not there...
1. Home

_"One of the great advantages of having a werewolf as a boyfriend was that he mostly was walking around half naked – and with a valid excuse. The only downside combined with this was having a mind-reading father. But when the father was not there..."_

_This is my second Jacob/Nessie story, sequel to** Other Half. **It's about how Nessie and Jacob are starting to develop their new relationship, and what happens along the way. You don't have to read Other Half to understand the plot, but it's recommended since I somewhere refer to what happened in that story. You'll find it on my profile:)_

_Rated M for later sexual content, language and mature themes._

_**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer, I'm just havin' fun with her characters. No money is being made from this work. I don't even own the title, I stole it from a Van Morrison song. _

* * *

**Home**

_Song: Sweet thing – Van Morrison_

* * *

"It's good to have you back honey"

Rosalie reached out and patted my cheek lovingly. Her eyes weren't on the road at all, but still, the car didn't sway an inch.

We were driving home from the airport. I'd just gotten home from a four-day-long school-excursion /class arrangement-thing with my English class. You know, museums, historical events and memorials, then one poor hour spare time before some more museums. And so on.

"They will be so surprised when they see you're home"

"You didn't tell them you were picking me up?"

"They weren't home" she smirked. "They've probably realized it by now though"

That explained it. Rosalie had answered the phone when I'd called home, but it had surprised me a little bit that she was coming alone. Normally my whole family would have been there, as if I'd been gone for months or something. Silly I know, but still. And Jacob would have been there too... My stomach clenched just a little bit. I _would _have expected him to be there, at least. Well, it was only four days, I told myself. But still I couldn't help but ask.

"Did Jacob...?"

"He didn't know either, no"

Aha. He hadn't known. My stomach relaxed.

"Someone's eager to see the dog again, or what?" Rosalie teased.

I just blushed.

"Well, you didn't need to wait long" she said, a new tone to her voice. "He's right there"

"What? Where?" He was _here?_

I sat up, looking at the road ahead of us. We were driving on the highway, the forest close to the road on each side. Why would Jacob be out here? I looked as far ahead on the road as I could, but I couldn't see him.

"Not _there, _honey." she pretended to be resigned, but didn't manage. "In the forest"

My head snapped up to look out my right window, and there he was. Running alongside the car, right by the edge of the forest. He was hidden behind the first line of trees, and I could only see glimpses of his reddish fur, but I knew mediately that it was him. He had come to greet me.

I felt a smile spread in my face as I watched him. I had missed him. It had only been four days, but I had missed him. I guess it had been even harder for him; I knew how the imprinting made it difficult for him to be away from me for a longer period of time. Before I left he had jokingly suggested to come with me by hiding in my suitcase. I knew it was a joke, but I also knew he deep down had hoped that I would somehow say yes, come. But I couldn't and he knew that. Anyway, I was home now.

We reached the driveway down to the Cullen house, and Rosalie had to slow down. Jacob came out from the forest completely now, not bothering to hide since there were no other cars around. He jogged steadily beside the car, grinning at me, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. I heard Rosalie hiss, a little irritated sound which made me laugh. I turned over to look at her, pleadingly, and she sighed.

"Oh _fine_, just go run off with your dog" she said, rolling her eyes as the car slowed to a halt.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" I squealed, throwing myself over her, hugging her tightly. I planted a big kiss on the cheek, and she started laughing.

"You're the best!" I blurted out in a hurry, and the next second I was out of the car, watching her speed away towards the main house.

I looked around, expecting to see Jacob, but he wasn't there. I was standing alone in our driveway, surrounded by forest. No wolf. Weird.

"Ja..?" I started, but didn't get to finish. A very muscular arm had just wrapped around my waist, gushing the air out of me. I felt my feet disappear from the ground under me as well.

The next thing I knew I was wrapped up in his arms, one around my waist, the other under my knees, and he was kissing me fiercely. I kissed him back, my hands finding their way up to his hair, tugging a little bit, bringing him closer. He groaned, and the sound of it made my stomach tingle. His hands gripped me even closer to him. His smell surrounded me completely, and I felt _home. _Right here in his embrace. I let my hands slide down over his bare chest, up his neck and down again, wanting to feel him under my fingers. I felt a tremble run through his body at my touch.

_I missed you, _I thought, my hands wrapped behind his neck.

"Welcome home" he said, barely removing his lips from mine, his eyes still closed. Then he broke away completely, opening his eyes. They glowed, his whole face shining with excitement. I smiled.

"You know, I don't think I'm gonna let you down for a while" he informed me.

He brought his lips down again, pressing them softly against mine. Without breaking the kiss he started to walk in the direction of the house.

_Careful, _I thought, _I might get used to this._

"Fine with me" he mumbled against my lips, refusing to break free again. "Maybe you should"

He carried me all the way back to the house. And no, we didn't talk much.

* * *

It had been nice of Rose to come and get me, since she and Emmet were rarely home these days. They had moved away to go to college, and so had Alice and Jasper. Normally my whole family would have moved by now, like they always did. They had if fact stayed far too long. There were two reasons for this. One, my mom didn't want me to grow up too far away from grandpa Charlie, and two, Jacob. We still didn't know exactly how to fix that one. He was bound to La Push both because of Billy and because of his pack. He was alpha, and couldn't just leave like that. But he was also bound to me, even more, and there was no way we were leaving without him.

The problem was that Carlisle and Esme were looking many years younger than they originally should, something that had made it necessary for Carlisle to quit his work and start working at another hospital in another city. They had a house there as well, but they still came to the main house as often as they could. It wasn't as if the distance mattered to them. At least this way, it prevented people from getting nosy and we could stay here for a little while longer. Out of sight out of mind, right?

So the Cullens tried to stay low, make a low profile. And of course they succeeded perfectly as always. And lets face it, my family was not the typical family you just bump into and small-talk with over the Brussels sprout in the local veggie-shop.

Right before we reached the house, Jacob put me down. He grabbed my hand as we walked the last few meters towards the house.

"I would have come to the airport" he said, looking down at me. "But _someone_ took off before I got the chance to get there"

He said the last part loud and clear, perfectly aware that Rosalie would hear it from inside.

"No problem" I said quickly, before she could hiss something back to him. "I'm here now"

"Yes you are"

I turned around and saw both of my parents standing on the front porch. My mom rushed over to me to give me a hug.

"Hi, honey. Did you have a nice time? You're going to have to show me everything that happened"

_It's good to be home, _I thought, sending Jacob a sideways look. My father chuckled, and hugged me as well.

We got inside, and then all I could see was a shadow of short, black hair before Alice was hugging me tightly.

"Hey you!" she greeted me, he voice high with excitement. "Did you have a nice time? I know you're going to show me everything you bought and everything you did soon, because there's a big blanc whole in my afternoon and I guess that's because of you!"

"Most likely" I laughed. "I'll fill it in for you later"

She loosened her grip, and I could see Rosalie, Esme, Carlisle, Emmet and Jasper standing behind her. Jasper sent me a happy smile and Emmet grinned at me like he always did. I hugged all of them, and we all went into the living room. Jacob followed as well.

I sat down on the sofa with my mom, filling both of my parents in on everything that had happened. Well, I just needed to touch my mom; dad saw my mental pictures anyway. I also had to repeat it several times to everyone else; they all wanted to see. Jake was sitting quietly beside me on the sofa. We were in the living room for hours, until finally Alice lost her patience and all but dragged me upstairs to help me unpack my suitcase and see what I'd bought.

* * *

One of the great advantages of having a werewolf as a boyfriend was that he mostly was walking around half naked – and with a valid excuse. The only downside combined with this was having a mind-reading father. But when the father was not there...

We were wrapped up on the sofa in the cottage. It was late; it was dark outside. After spending the whole day with my family it felt good to finally be alone with Jake. My mom and dad would be back soon, they were still back at the main house. I guess this was their way of giving us some privacy before they came back to kick Jacob out. Normally he didn't spend the nights. We weren't exactly _there_ yet.

I had spent the rest of the day replaying almost everything that had happened on my trip to everyone, and I was exhausted. But not _that_ exhausted...

"I missed you"

His words were muffled, because his lips were busy kissing down my jawline.

"I missed you" he said again, kissing a trail down my neck. "I missed you, I missed you, I missed you"

"You keep saying that, yeah. I was only gone for four days, not four months." I laughed, but then added silently _I missed you too, you know, _my hands resting on his neck.

"It seemed like four months" he mumbled before he reached back to press his lips to mine.

Again, it hit me how beautiful he was. We had been, well, _together, _for almost two months now, but still I had the feeling of not getting _enough _of him. After our last school break together, (yeah, _that _one, the one were he told me about the imprinting before I was snatched away as Johams guinea pig to-be) our time together had been far less than what I wanted. There was school, and afterwards there was always someone there, somehow making either me busy or him busy. Not intentionally, of course, but I just wanted to be with him. Alone. _More_.

He was laying on his back, covering the whole sofa with his broad shoulders, his feet too long pointing over the edge. I was tucked between him and the sofa with his arm wrapped safely around my waist. The look he sent me was almost marveling, as if he couldn't quite believe that I was there in his arms. He leaned down again and pressed his lips lightly to mine again. As always, the whole inside of my body started to tingle.

His kisses were heaven. I hadn't kissed anyone before him, so it wasn't as if I had anything to compare to, but it felt at least pretty amazing. I wondered if he'd had any experience on this area before...but then I backtracked quickly. I wouldn't go down that road, and my mother was partly the reason. Ugh. Not thinking about that, not thinking about that.

I ran my fingers up his neck and wound them up in his hair, tugging a little to bring him closer. He let out a quiet groan from the back of his throat, and deepened the kiss instantly. His hands started to run up and down the small of my back, pressing me closer to him. I grabbed his hair more tightly, and he groaned again, bringing his lips even closer to mine. Huh. I must remember that, I thought, smirking.

His hands were still rubbing my back, pressing me to his side as if he just couldn't help it. His mouth gently parted my lips, and not only could I smell him, I could _taste _him as well. I ran my tongue out to brush his bottom lip and felt him shiver. Soon after his own tongue darted out and met mine. Heaven. My breath was getting uneven, coming out in shallow gasps.

"Nessie" he mumbled against my lips, his voice low and husky.

I knew what he was about to say and sighted inwards. That my parents would be here any minute, we needed to sit up in a more appropriate way, we needed to stop before they came too close, this was not the right place, the right time, yadda yadda.

"You're...you're so..." he started, his breath uneven, lips and tongue busy exploring my mouth. "You're beautiful."

Surprised, I opened my eyes. It wasn't what he'd said, more the way he said it. So... sincere. He'd always told me he thought I was beautiful, but not like this. Not with his lips grasping for mine, his breath heavy and uneven, hands gripping me tightly to him. It was almost as if he'd wanted to use another word but didn't dare.

We heard it then, light footsteps outside in the forest. My parents. They were walking, giving us time to de-snuggle. Jake unwillingly tore his lips away from mine, and we both sat up into a sitting position. He moved his hand from my waist to rest around my shoulders and smiled down to me.

I realized I hadn't asked him what he'd been up to lately – there had been way to much attention on me since I got home.

"So, what have you been up to?" I asked "Anything happened while I was gone?"

To my surprise, I saw his eyes darken a little bit, as if a shadow crept over his face. My parents entered just then, and he looked up. His face transformed into a smile again, but it didn't seem a hundred percent real, I thought. He looked down at me before he answered, still smiling, still tense.

"We can talk tomorrow. You should get some sleep."

"Al right" I said, unsure.

It looked as if something _did _happen, but he clearly didn't want to talk about it now. Maybe it wasn't important. I couldn't help being curious, though. I looked up at my dad, but he didn't seem troubled at all. He must know what it was, but I also knew he could hear my thoughts right now. He averted his eyes from me. _Hiding something?_ He looked at me then, of course, and sent me a honest but resigned smile. Fine. I guess I could wait until tomorrow.

"You know, you can stay a little longer if you want to, Jacob" my mom said. "It's not that late"

"I know" he smiled. "But I guess I should be heading home, you know..."

His voice trailed off, and my mother nodded understandingly. I felt like I was missing out on something here.

Jacob turned to send me another smile, sincere this time.

"I'll let you sleep. You must be tired"

He stood up from the sofa, stretched and walked over to the door. I followed behind. He kissed me goodbye, a quick peck on the mouth, before he left. I stood in the doorway, watching him as he walked towards the forest. His back was slightly hunched, and it looked like he was brooding. Right when he reached the edge of the forest he turned, and saw that I was watching him. He sent me an earnest smile and waved before he disappeared behind the trees. I turned around and closed the door when I heard the silent thudding from running paws fade into the distance.

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_A.N: I wont be able to update as often as i did with Other Half, since this story is not finished. But I will try to update about once a week. Hope you liked it, reviews are really appreciated!:)_


	2. Challenge

_A.N: Thank you so much for reviewing! And for adding me to alerts and favourites. It's become a real ego boost to open a mail from FF! Here's a new chapter for you, hope you like it:)_

* * *

**Challenge**

_Do you know what happened? _I finally asked.

I looked up at my dad. He was sitting in the sofa next to me, reading, trying to keep out of my thoughtful head I guess. Well, if he'd been peeking in for the last half hour he would know this was coming. Jacob would be home now, sleeping maybe. I'd told myself I wouldn't ask my dad. I'd tried to forget, tried to tell myself that it was nothing important, that Jacob would tell me tomorrow. But my self-control was insulting my brain.

My dad smiled a little, sending me a sideways look from his book. Then he turned serious.

"I know what happened, yes"

I raised my eyebrows a little bit, willing him to continue. He didn't. I sighed inwards.

_Can you tell me, then, please?_

Dad looked down, his face all serious.

"No."

A chill crept up my back. Was it serious, then? Or maybe I wasn't supposed to know? It couldn't be a good secret, or my dad wouldn't be this serious. Maybe it was something really bad. That I wasn't supposed to know about? What could Jake possibly not want me to know?

"It's not like that" my dad said, still looking down. Then he looked up to meet my gaze. "He just haven't told you yet, that's all."

So Jacob intended to tell me. Something bad. A sudden thought hit me, and my head snapped up.

"He's not...?"

"No, he's not ill. There's nothing wrong with him" dad reassured me.

I fell back in the sofa again and continued to pounder.

"Nessie." My dad looked at me again. "I'm not going to tell you. Let Jacob tell you on his own. He is not ill, there is nothing wrong with him. Now let it go. He'll tell you tomorrow, don't pester him about it. Al right?"

He sent me a little smile.

"Fine" I grumbled, and got up from the sofa. Stupid curiosity.

My dad laughed quietly. I leaned down to give him a goodnight-kiss on the cheek.

"It's good to have you back home" he said after me as I went to say goodnight to my mom. I smiled. _Yeah. It's good to be home. _

* * *

The next day I woke up early. It was beautiful outside, and the sun was shining through my window. I got up, eager to meet Jacob again. The living room was empty. I could hear my parents' muted voices from their bedroom, so I guess they weren't exactly up yet. Didn't want to disturb that. Might want to get out of here though.

"Don't mind me" I addressed the air in front of me "Going to see Jake"

The door opened quietly, and I turned to see my mother leaning against the door frame, wearing a bath robe.

"I can make you some breakfast if you like. Are you hungry?"

"No thanks. I think I'll hunt some day soon instead." I looked around to find my shoes. I found one and pulled it on.

"Okay. But let him sleep if he wants to, right Nessie? It's still early." she smiled.

" I know. I will. I'll just check to see if he's awake"

I found my other shoe, and put it on as well. I waved to my mother before I slipped out the door.

"Have fun. And make sure you eat something" she said before I heard the door close quietly behind her.

I ran. Not because I was in a hurry, but because I wanted to. It was beautiful outside. Inside the forest it was still moist, and the grass was still wet from the damp night. After a few minutes I reached the end of the forest by La Push, and I could glimpse Jacobs house. Oh, how I loved that house. I slowed to human pace and walked up towards it. I could hear Jacob snoring light from inside, and also Billys heavy breathing which meant they were both asleep. I didn't want to ring the doorbell and wake them.

I sneaked up to Jacobs window and hesitated. It had been a while since the last time I'd done this. I definitely hadn't done it since we were...well...in a few months. I used to do it when I was little, but that seemed so different somehow. We were different now.

I took a deep breath before I carefully eased the window open. I peeked inside. Jacob was sprawled out across his bed, his arms and feet hanging over the edge. It was the same old bed, still way to short. He was snoring, and the blanket was tumbled up around his feet. The image made me smile. I quietly eased my self up, and slid through the window, landing on the floor almost without a sound. I left the window open, and the curtains swayed in the light breeze.

His room was tiny. The double bed took up almost all of his room, making it impossible for me to move much. Carefully not to wake him up I sat down by the foot of the bed an wrapped my feet up in front of me, wrapping my arms around them. I sat there for a little while, looking around. While my own room was well decorated (coughEsmecough) and airy, with pictures, a bookcase, shelves, a desk and a wardrobe, Jacobs room was quite different. Except from his double bed there really wasn't much. There was a couple of shelves on the wall, with a few books and cds on them. And then there was a tiny, tiny wardrobe in the corner of the room (I'm not sure if it you could even call it a wardrobe) and a bedside table with an alarm clock on it. And that was it.

Jacob let out a heavy breath and the snoring stopped. I watched him as he heaved around, shifting on the too-small bed, trying to get comfortable. He ended up lying on his stomach, his face away from me. Hm. Maybe it was time to wake him up. It wasn't _that _early. And I didn't want to be the creepy I'm-sneaking-into-your-room-to-watch-you-sleep-without-you-knowing-it kind of girlfriend. (Sorry dad). I poked his leg. Nothing happened. I poked it again. He reached down to scratch it with his hand, mumbling something incomprehensible. I stroke my finger up and down his calf. With a sudden jolt he sat up and turned around, with a look that clearly said_ I'm going to kill that bug_. And then he saw me and almost jolted up in the air in surprise.

"Did I startle you?" I grinned.

He snorted, gushing air out.

"What are you doing here? It's like seven in the morning"

"I'm waking you up" I smiled. "Too early?"

A smile spread on his lips as well, and he reached out to pull me closer to him. He shook his head.

"You surprised me that's all. It's never too early for you"

He wrapped his arms around me, and I tilted my head upwards. He studied my face before he leaned down and softly put his lips on mine. He kissed me tenderly, a sweet good-mornig kiss.

"Come here. Did you sleep well?" he asked as he laid down on his side, bringing me with him. He reached for the blanket by the foot of the bed to wrap over the both of us.

"Mhm" I murmured and crept closer to him. "Did you?"

"I did" he admitted "But I liked waking up better"

He put his hand under my chin, and I reached up yo meet him halfway. He kissed me again, rougher this time. It hit me that we were in his bed. Wrapped up under a blanket. Kissing. Snuggling. Alone. Billy was sleeping. No super-sensible ears around, no mind-readers. Just the thought of it made my stomach tingle and I became slightly nervous for some reason.

I felt his hand search around under the blanket. It wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer to him pinning my body to his. He was only wearing sweatpants. I reached up again, probing my fingers through his hair. He moaned quietly and his hands started to stroke back and forth on the small of my back. I opened my mouth and kissed him deeper, softy letting my tongue trail across his lips. His breathing became uneven and he kissed me harder, winding one of his hands through my hair, pressing me closer to him.

We had kissed like this many times before, but not lying wrapped up in a _bed. _I didn't know if it made any difference besides being more comfortable, but still there was something more intimate with this whole setting. It felt...new. My stomach tingled again, both with anticipation and nerves.

My hands were now moving over Jacobs chest on their own accord – I couldn't help it. His skin was so soft under my fingers, his muscles making the skin firm. Then, his hand on my back slowly started to slide down over my hip and down my thigh. And then back up. I froze. This _was_ new. He had never touched me like this before.

Jacob froze too, when he felt my reaction. His hand on my hip lay quite still. His eyes popped open, and guilt flooded through his eyes. He thought he'd done something wrong. He'd thought he'd gone too far. He'd misunderstood.

Jacob tore his lips and hands away from me and was about to start apologize, but I didn't let him. I threw myself at him, wrapping my lips around his. I kissed him fiercely, flooding him with all the passion I could muster. There had been nothing _wrong_, far from it. New, yes. Surprising, yes. Good? Yes.

His lips were still against mine for a few seconds, but then he got over the shock and his hands were on me in an instant. Probing, clinging to me feverishly. From the small of my back, over my thigh, up and down my hip, up my sides and down to my thighs again. He kissed me back the same way I was kissing him; forcefully and with an urgency that only made it impossible to stop. He put his hands on each side of my waist, gently caressing my stomach with his thumbs. As I put my hands behind his neck, I showed him how I felt right now. Just the feeling of it, of _him, _of this.

He shuddered and leaned his head down, slipping his lips away from mine. When he looked up again, his eyes were glowing, amazed. He shook his head slightly, as if to clear his thoughts. "Ness" was all he said. His voice was hoarse. I leaned forward to lean my forehead against his and closed my eyes.

"Being with you like this..." he said shakily "it's just...surreal. I'm not used to it, to be like this with you".

"You don't like...?" I opened my eyes. If he didn't want to kiss me like this...

"Of course I do, Nessie." he hurried to say. "It's just different. New. I mean, you've always been my little girl. It's completely new for me to feel this way with you, to _want_ you like this..."

He looked down, suddenly embarrassed, as if he'd said too much. I could feel a blush spread to my cheeks for no reason.

I closed my eyes again and could feel his hot breath on my face. He kissed my forehead softly and left his lips in my hair. I could feel my whole body relax against him, and he held me even closer.

I thought what had happened last night when I asked about what he'd been doing. I remembered how his eyes had gotten all dark, and again I wondered what was wrong. I could just wait and see if he wanted to tell me what it was on his own, without me pushing it. I guess I should wait, let him come to me. But I was just so curious. And if something was wrong...I didn't want Jake to have to pretend that everything was okay for me.

I thought about just popping the same question as yesterday, to pretend I hadn't noticed the darkening in his eyes last night. Hey Jake, anything happened lately? Anything at all? But that would be wrong, and I never was much of a liar. Not to Jake, anyway. I decided honesty was best.

"Jacob?" I asked quietly, hesitant.

"Mmm?"

Even though I couldn't see his face, I knew exactly how his expression would be right now. His eyes would be closed, his cheek resting on top of my head, and he would have a relaxed smile on his lips. His voice was sleepy and content.

"I just wanted to ask you..." I paused. "Last night, when I asked if anything had happened while I was gone...Did it? Did something happen?"

Quiet. He didn't reply. I leaned back to be able to look at his face. He was looking down, and he seemed...sad.

"Jake?"

He looked up then, and smiled. Not a happy smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Yes" he said and took a deep breath. "Something happened. My...my dad was sent to the hospital again. His heart. Again. But this time it was worse. Worse than before. The doctors..." he paused. "They didn't know if he would...when he would get well. But he miraculously got better."

He looked up at me, still a sad smile on his face. I could hear Billys steady heartbeat and his heavy breathing all the way from his bedroom. I was horrified.

"He's okay, really, or they wouldn't have sent him home. I was just worried...you now. And you weren't there to cheer me up, so I thought the worst, of course."

His hand lifted to brush my cheek.

"But is he alright now?" I blurted out. "Is he...I mean, he's going to be fine, right?"

"He _is_ fine. Now." Jacob voice turned bitter, and I realized we'd hit the core to the problem. "I just don't know how long it will last"

"What did the doctors say?"

"That it was the same as usual. That he would get better. And he did. I just... I don't know. I have a bad feeling about the whole thing"

"Oh Jake..." I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him, or, well, pressed myself to him more like it.

He hugged me back and we lay like this for a long time. We talked now and then, about Billy, and Jacob filled me in on all of the details. He told me Rachel and Paul would come back soon, Rachel wanted to see her father. Since they married a couple of years ago she hadn't been home much. He was here regularly though (pack thing) and she sometimes joined him.

When the clock turned nine we got up to eat breakfast. I was a little nervous for what Billy would think when he saw me here this early, coming out of Jacobs room, but Jacob just laughed and pushed me into the kitchen. Billy looked up when we entered, and he seemed totally unaffected.

"Oh, hi kids. Nice to see you here this early, Nessie" he said knowingly. I could feel my face redden, but thankfully Billy looked away just then. Jacob noticed though, and he smirked. I ignored him.

"How are you, Billy?" I asked carefully. "Jacob told me what happened..."

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. No harm done" Billy waved his hand dismissively. He blew it all off in a way that reminded me very of Jacob. Father like son, I guess. He started to wheel himself into the living room. "I'm healthy as a horse, don't think about it. Food's in the kitchen, kids. Just help yourselves."

I sat on the counter watching Jacob eat breakfast. When he was done, he turned to me.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Nah. I don't feel like eating human food today"

"That's not what I was asking. Are you hungry or not?"

"Not really. I can wait a few days"

Jacob sighed dramatically.

"So much for show"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you're embarrassed that I will point finger and laugh when you can only take down the _smallest_ deer, you could just say so instead of _pretending _that you're not hungry."

"I'm not _pretending!" _I exclaimed loudly, my voice high with indignation. I could hear Billy laugh silently from the other room.

"Whatever you say" Jacob raised both of his eyebrows, rolling his eyes, making it very clear that he didn't believe me for one second

I leaned towards him, my nose nearly touching his.

"I'm _not"_

"I don't believe you. You can't take down a proper deer. You're too..._slow._"

As he said the last word, he pointed his chin out, his nose touching mine. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that if nothing else was working, that word would surely tick me off. I was almost fuming. He was good.

"Prove me wrong", he added, raising his eyebrows again. Challenging me.

In the next second I had bolted through his bedroom, out his window, and was out in the backyard running towards the forest. It was silly, I know. Deep down I knew he was just teasing me. I knew this was what he wanted. But I couldn't just let him _win.._

"The biggest deer wins" I heard him call out behind me, and I could hear him follow me into the forest.

I could also hear the smile on his face. He knew exactly which buttons to push. He knew me too well.


	3. Distractions

_A.N: Enjoy:)_

* * *

_In the next second I had bolted through his bedroom, out his window, and was out in the backyard running towards the forest. It was silly, I know. Deep down I knew he was just teasing me. I knew this was what he wanted. But I couldn't just let him win.._

"_The biggest deer wins" I heard him call out behind me, and I could hear him follow me into the forest. _

_I could also hear the smile on his face. He knew exactly which buttons to push. He knew me too well._

* * *

**Distractions**

I won. Hah. Jacob refused to admit it at first though. He kept claiming that his deer was bigger than mine, even though it obviously wasn't.

We were sprawled out on the forest floor, in the place we normally went to when we wanted to be alone. It was a beautiful morning, the sun already high up in the sky. Jacob was laying on his back, and I was laying on my stomach beside him, propped up on my elbows. He had his arm stretched out in front of me, to rest my head on if I wanted to.

I studied him. His eyes were closed and his face was totally relaxed. The sunbeams made his skin almost bronze. I put my arm beside his. The difference was obvious. My arm seemed tiny next to his, and my skin was pale and gave a faint glow. His arm was massive, his skin a reddish brown and I could clearly see the muscles beneath. The image of his arm and my arm, next to each other – it fit perfectly, spite the differences

His hand twisted and wrapped around mine. I looked up, and found him watching me.

I sent him a smile, and he smiled back. His eyes wandered over my face, and I wondered what he was thinking.

"You're not still sulking, are you?" I teased.

"Sulking? About what?"  
"That I got the biggest deer"

"You didn't"

"You know, you shouldn't beg for it if you can't handle the result"

I didn't even get to finish before he was over me, and I howled with laughter as he tumbled us both around on the forest floor, pretending to be mad. I tried to wrestle my way free, but his big hands wrapped firmly around my wrists and didn't let me. He flipped us over one last time, so that my back was pressed to the ground and he was towering over me. He pinned my hands to the ground so that I wouldn't be able to worm free.

"What did you say?" he dared me.

"I said, you shouldn't beg f..."

My air went out when he started to tickle my sides. I started to laugh, gasping for air. I grabbed his waist with my suddenly free arms, and tried to push him away, but he didn't sway an inch.

"Wrong answer" he laughed, and pinned my wrists back down.

I tried to move my legs up between us, so that I could push him away with my feet, but it only ended with him pressing himself closer to me. He rested the lower part of his body on me, so that I couldn't use my feet as a weapon. The upper part of his body he rested solely on his arms. I could see the muscles bulge.

"Give in" he pressed

"Never"

"I could lie here all day, you know..."  
He pretended to wait persistently, looking up to the sky with his eyebrows raised. I wiggled under him, trying to worm myself free, but he pinned me back down at once.

"Give in" he pressed again.

I would never. But he sort of had the advantage her. I couldn't move an inch without him noticing it, and he was too smart for me to be able to distract him. Or...was he? A distraction didn't necessarily have to include me pointing at something, telling him to turn around. He _was_ too smart for that. But what about another sort of distraction? He was so close, all I had to do was reach up... My heart started to race. He heard of course, and sent me an expectant look. He probably thought I was planning another attack. Which I sort of was.

Quickly, so he wouldn't just pin me back down immediately, I reached up and brought my lips to his. I could feel his surprise; it was like if his whole body turned numb. And then he melted over me. His arms softened and his upper body came down to press against me as well. He didn't completely loose the hold of my wrists, but he loosened his grip considerably.

I opened my mouth completely and deepened the kiss. I felt him shudder and he made a little sound in the back of his throat. He pressed himself to me, and I almost forgot why I had kissed him in the first place. He was not the only one who could get distracted.

Jacob let go of my wrists only to wrap his hands around my waist. Golden opportunity for my to get free. Instead I automatically arched my back into him, and he groaned quietly into my mouth. His hands wrapped completely around my back, and he slowly moved them upwards. I wrapped my arms around him as well. I let my fingers flutter up and down his back, feeling the muscles there. He pressed against me even further.

I decided that if I ever was going to complete my original plan before I forgot all about it, it had to be now. I wrapped my hands up around his neck, and showed him a picture of us, him sliding me over so that I would be laying on top of him. And he did, no hesitation. Without breaking the kiss, he used his hands on my back and lifted me up as he rolled over to lay underneath me. I rested my knees on each side of his thighs, before I with a great amount of willpower managed to remove my lips from his. He made a protesting sound and opened his eyes.

"I win" I whispered.

He just looked at me for one second, as he processed what I'd just done. Then his lips were on mine again, kissing me even rougher than before.

"I don't care" he mumbled against my lips. One of his hands cradled the back of my head, pulling me towards him. "You can have everything. I don't care. As long as I can have you"

I gave in completely then. I didn't know if I'd understood exactly what he meant with that last thing, but the intensity in his voice was clear. I kissed him back just as rough. His hands were all over me. The kiss grew more and more desperate, and I felt a need for him I hadn't really felt before. I didn't know what it was exactly, but a tingling feeling spread down my stomach and I just wanted _more_. More of him, more of this. I wrapped my hands around his neck and showed him. Maybe he knew what this feeling was.

So I showed him, and Jacob groaned out loud this time. I could feel his teeth grazing my lips. I leaned a little away from him, only to be able to feel his chest under my fingers. His hands moved from my back and down to my hips, traveling over my thighs, down to my knees, pulling them gently upwards so that I was straddling him. His hands were now probing up and down my thighs, squeezing lightly.

Suddenly my eyes darted open in surprise, and I drew in a sharp intake of air. He had moved me upwards so that I was sitting right over his hips. Was that...?It had to be_. _I felt a deep blush spread in my face. He opened his eyes and understanding lit his face. In the next second he'd broken the kiss and gently pushed me over on my back. He leaned down beside me, laying on his stomach. He looked a little uncomfortable, almost embarrassed. He sent me a sheepish smile.

He'd misunderstood again. I really didn't...mind. I could feel my face redden just by thinking about it, but honestly, I didn't. It was kind of flattering, actually.

Jacob noticed my blush of course.

"Nessie, I'm so..." he started. I didn't let him finish his apology this time either. I scooped over to him, propping my self up on the side, before I leaned down and planted a kiss on his mouth.

"Will you ever stop apologizing for things that you really don't need to apologize for?" I said, my voice resigned.

He just looked at me for a second, before he smiled and looked down.

"I'm just..you know, worried that you don't..:" he paused. "that I'm too..." He paused again "I don't want to push you into anything"

"You don't" I sent him an earnest smile, and the nervousness disappeared from his face. I added with a teasing tone, "If I didn't knew better, Jacob Black, I would start thinking you've become_ soft_"

"Never" He echoed my words from earlier, and his lips turned into a little smile.

"You sure about that?"

"Very"

"I'll race you home for it"

If he ran in human form, I could take him down any day.

"Deal"

He leaned in to kiss me then. He wrapped his hand around my cheek and drew his fingers through my hair. Just when I could feel his tongue grazing my lips, he was gone. I opened my eyes in confusion, and saw his back as he ran away from me into the forest. He turned to look at me over his shoulder, and burst out laughing when he saw my expression. Huh. My own medicine and all that, I guess. I got up on my feet to follow him. He'd gotten a headstart.

"The hare and the turtle" I muttered under my breath, knowing he would hear. "Remember who won in the end, Jacob?" I heard his laughter from inside the forest.

"_And phasing is cheating!" _I added before I launched myself after him. I didn't have a chance in hell if he was running wolf.

* * *

_A.N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I really appreciate it!_


	4. Out

_A.N: Hello beautiful people!_

_I'm sorry that I wont be able to update this story any faster, since I have to write the future chapters as well as edit the ones that's up next... But I will update at least once a week, maybe more. And hey, it's only been five days now, right?;)_

_If any of you have any ideas about what you'd like to read about in this story, then please tell me! And if your heart just about stopped now ( in the non-vampire-ish sense); don't worry, I have a plan and a plot, and I've not run out of ideas. I've written some chapters ahead, and I know what's going to happen and how it's going to end. But there's room for more and I'm open for suggestions. Just thought I'd let you know;)_

_(and by the way, I know what you all want to see happening between Jacob and Nessie. And it will. Wont say when though.)_

_And now I'll stop nattering and let you read:_

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Out**

* * *

The next week past without many big events. The school was back to normal; everything was back to normal. Not-enough-time-for-Jacob normal. On Tuesday mom and I went to visit grandpa Charlie. We drove in the Volvo as we always did; it wasn't as suspicious as running.

I still never showed him anything – with him it was still strictly need to know. He'd sort of accepted that I had grown up about twice as fast as what was normal, I think. At least he didn't eye me when he thought nobody saw, and he'd stopped sending us concerned glances.

Maybe Billy had something to do with that. Billy could be very convincing and very easy going. It must have rubbed off. Still, I always took precautions when visiting Charlie. I never wore grown-up clothes. Mostly something baggy, like sweatpants and a mickey mouse t-shirt and hood. In other words – no tight clothes. No high heels. No cleavage. No fancy jackets. No make-up. Thumbs up for ponytails. I don't know if it worked much, but at least it didn't make it worse. He still didn't see me as grown; just an early teenager. I think.

The girls in my class wanted me to join them at the Pavement this Friday. The Pavement was _the _nightclub in Port Angeles. We weren't old enough, (least of all me, technically) but honestly – if you were a girl, you got in. Easy as that. Gross as that. They were excited though. I'd said yes, but I was really tempted to call and say I was ill. Not that I didn't want to meet them, I just had bad memories connected to Port Angeles.

Actually, I hadn't been in P.A since that night when I was hit in the head beside the cinema. This led me to thoughts of Joham, which led me to thoughts I didn't want to think about. I never spoke to Jacob about this. He had a tendency to break something whenever it got mentioned.

Thursday was family-day. Rose and Emmet would be leaving soon, and they didn't know exactly when they came back to visit. Alice and Jasper would stay a few days longer. Tonight, all of us were sitting in the living room with Carlisle, Esme and my parents. And the topic of the conversation was swirling around me and my going-out-on-a-nightclub-sort-of-plans for tomorrow.

"I don't like it" my dad said.

"Me neither" I said, honestly. "But I said I'd go with them"

"I could ground you. Or you could tell them I did"

"You could. But they are my friends. And I want to go with them because they are my friends. Not because I particularly like the place we're going to"

"Honestly, I don't know what the fuzz is about" Alice said. She was sitting on the edge of the sofa next to Jasper. "It's not like she's never been out before."

"Not like this, you know, not...there" Esme said quietly from her chair. I could hear my dad clench his teeth together. I knew what his problem was. The last time I went to P.A on my own hadn't been a nice experience. Bad memories.

"Nobody's after her now, right? And she can take down any human, that puny"

Emmet laughed and grinned at me. Well, compared to him, he was right. I was puny. I grinned back.

I knew they would let me go. Mom and Rose didn't like it either, but I knew they wouldn't hold me back or limit me in any way. They were just worried. But I wouldn't be alone this time. And no one was after me. And we were going to a crowded place. And Emmet was right; I could take down any human. So there really was nothing to worry about.

Dad sighed as he listened to my train of thoughts.

"Fine then. But someone will drive you."  
"I can drive on my own"

"No. Not this time. Someone will drive you and pick you up. And no standing alone in dark alleys waiting to..."

_I wont, I wont. I'm not stupid. _

He sighed and smiled just a little bit. My mom laughed. It must have been very clear on my face what I was thinking.

* * *

Alice and Rosalie hailed me in immediately after school the next day. They dragged me up to the bathroom to "make me look grown up". Great. Not that I minded much; I enjoyed their company at least. They finally decided on an outfit I could agree on wearing; a black suit-like shorts, a dark blue top and a short jacket. Kind of nice, kind of casual, kind of pretty.

"Have you spoken with Jacob today?" Alice asked suddenly as she handed Rosalie a pin to put in my hair.

"No, but I called him last night. He was at home with Billy after finishing some pack-stuff"

"Does he know where you're going tonight?"

"Yeah, I told him. Why?"

"No reason. But I have a feeling he'll be driving you"

"How do you know? I didn't ask him"  
"No, but I can see that none of us is going to drive you, so I guess it's him then"

She winked at me. "And besides, I guess he might stay there with you for a while as well. You see, I can clearly see two blank spots, that's you two, but they keep melting together into one big blank spot several times tonight."  
I could hear Emmet snigger somewhere in the house, and Rose snorted behind me. I could hear someone gritting their teeth as well. Probably my parents.

"Oh, _come on!"_ I told them, embarrassed.

"I meant that in the non-sexual meaning, thankyouverymuch" Alice said indignant. "It means he will be in the same _building _as her. God!" She added, muttering under her breath.

She was right. Just a few minutes after my aunts were done playing dress-up, my cell purred.

"Hello?"

"Nessie"

It was Jacob, and he sounded happy . As always.

"Hi Jake"

"You still going out tonight?"

"That's the plan, yeah."

"You want me to drive you?"

I laughed

"You know you don't have to, but Alice just told me you would anyway, so I guess, yeah"

"But would you_ like _me to drive you?" he pressed.

Jeez, did I need to spell it out?

"Yes Jacob, I'd like you to drive me. Please"

I could hear him smile in the other end.

"If you insist. When should I could over?"

"We probably won't be leaving in a couple of hours. But if it's up to _me, _I think you should come over now. We could hang out"

"I guess we could" I could hear his smile widen into a grin. "I'm on my way."

* * *

They were nervous. I was sitting in the front seat next to Jacob who was driving. Tina, Joan and Sophie were squeezed in the backseat.

"Do you think we'll get through?"

"How do we know they wont check ID?"

"What if you guys come in and I don't?"

"Do I look like I'm past twenty?"

Yes, they were nervous. I laughed quietly, and Jacob sent me an amused smile. He parked the car on the side of the road, and my girlfriends stumbled out.

"I'll be there in a sec" I called out after them before the door slammed shut. I turned to Jacob.

"Well, have fun" he said, smiling. "And don't go anywhere alone" he added seriously.

"You're going home?"

"Well, this is not exactly my kind of place" he laughed, nodding to the giggling girls outside the car. I could hear the thudding of music coming from inside clearly, and so could he. "But I can stay if you want me to"

"You don't have to" I smiled, sure he would come anyway. I remembered what Alice had said. "But you're welcome if you want"

Someone tapped impatiently on my window. I leaned over and kissed Jacob quickly, and sent him a smile before I climbed out of the car.

"Come _on, _Nessie. He'll survive"

They dragged me along , and then pushed me in front of them as we got closer to the small line of people waiting to get in.

"And you need to go first, 'cus you look oldest"

Sure. Put the youngest first.

They tiptoed nervously next to me on their high heels, clustering together. I noticed Sophie was quivering, and I guessed it was not so much the chilly night as the nerves.

"Relax" I whispered "It's not like you haven't been here before"

"It's just as nerve-wrecking every time" she grinned at me. "If we get through or not"

There were only a couple of girls in the line in front of us, and then we would be up. Suddenly I could feel a familiar warmth appear at my side, and I looked up only to see Jacob stand beside me. He didn't look at me, but he bent down to my ear.

"That guy's ogling you."

His voice was almost a growl, and he scowled in the direction of a group of boys beside the line.

"Oh chill. You're imagining things" I laughed. "And if someone is, I can take care of it myself"

"Oh, Jacob is joining us!" Tina popped her head in between us, resting it on my shoulder. She whispered conspicuously. "Good. He looks way past twenty. If he get in maybe we will too"

"Shh, we're up!" Joan hissed, and poked Jacob in the back to make him move forwards. Jacob laughed, grabbed my hand and walked straight past the guards without a earning even a glance from them. The girls huddled up close behind us, looking as serious and grown as they could, but still hiding a little behind Jacobs broad back. And then we were in. Easy as cake.

The place was crammed. It was dark to human eyes, with flashing lights and thundering music that certainly was not on the ipod my dad had given me for Christmas several years ago. Little sitting groups were placed around the room, around a very crowded dancing floor. I hoped I didn't have to end up there. Jacob, tall as he was, easily guided us to a small table in the corner. My friends was chatting happily and I joined in.

"Come on, Jacob, you need to order us something to drink. Just in case they start asking for ID. I'll pay." Joan grabbed his arm and started to drag him back into the crowd. He sent me an amused smile and followed her with a perplexed look on his face.

I started to laugh by the look on his face as he disappeared in the crowd. This was _so _not his type of place. I guess it wasn't really my type of place either. But it obviously was my friends type of place, so I shrugged

"Aww, he's so cute you know." Tina eyed me as I looked after him.

"I _know. _Lucky girl" Sophie joined in.

"That's you boyfriend, huh? Where's he from? First Nations?"

Three slim looking guys joined our table, sitting down on the empty chairs. The one who spoke directed his attention towards me. He had a narrow face, but was handsome looking I guess

"He's Quileute" I answered.

"Boyfriend?" he pressed.

"Yes"

I had to smile at the disappointed look on his face. He turned his attention to the other two girls; I'd clearly become uninteresting. The guys joined us, chatting for a couple of minutes. And then they asked us if we wanted to dance. Tina and Sophie obligingly stood up. Oh no.

"I'm sure your boyfriend wouldn't mind" the guy sitting next to me said. He seemed nice, but I really didn't feel like dancing. Luckily Joan appeared just then, with Jacob trailing behind. I could see his jaw clench as he took in the guy in front of me.

"No thanks, but I'm sure Joan would like to dance" I nodded towards her, as she put the drinks on the table. "And she doesn't have a boyfriend" I added in a whisper. The guy smiled.

"Thanks" he whispered back.

So they left, leaving me and Jacob alone. Fine with me, really. He sat down beside me, and I took a sip of my drink. It tasted good.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked

I just stared at him. His smile was a little strained at first, but then he saw my dubious face and relaxed.

"Me neither" he said, clearly relieved.

"We don't have to stay long, if you don't like it"

"We'll stay as long as you like."  
I took another sip. Wow, this thing really tasted good.

"How's Billy, by the way? I haven't seen him in a week now" I asked

"Oh, he's pretending to be fine. You know him, he downplays everything."

"But he's not really fine?"  
"I don't know" he admitted "He seems fine. He says he's fine. But I don't know."

He scooped closer and wrapped his arm around me.

"Here" I said, offering my drink.

"I'm driving, remember." he winked. "You like it?" he asked.

"Yes" I said. "I've never tasted anything like this before"

Alcohol had never really had any effect on me before, but then I hadn't been drinking much, either.

"Well, you've never been to a place like this before either," he said, and I laughed.

* * *

We sat there for several hours. Talking. As the drinks in front of me emptied, the content of our conversations turned lighter as well. To the edge of silly actually. The girls joined us now and then. They were enjoying themselves immensely.

"Nessie!" Joan squealed, for the third time this evening. She sat down on the chair beside me, almost loosing her balance. She staggered a little, and sent me a huge grin.

"What happened to you?" I asked, amused.  
"Jellyshots happened, hon. Here, try"

She reached me two small glasses, and I eyed the green jelly dubiously.

"Come on, try!" she pressed.

I obliged, and tried to drink it down, but it was stuck in the glass. Jacob sniggered.

"How am I supposed to get this thing out of there, then?" I said, and handled him the glass. He scooped his little finger down and easily loosened the content from the glass. He handed it to me, and I swallowed. It tasted like jello. Huh.

"I'll get more. They're free" Joan said with a little hiccough . She got up from her chair and staggered away towards the bar.

* * *

"God, girl, you do know how to hold you drinks"

Joan was leaning over the table, her eyes impressed.

"I'm a pro" I teased. "But I'm starting to notice it"

"Starting to? I've noticed it for the last two hours" Sophie moaned.

The clock was half past one. We sat around the table, with several empty glasses in front of us. Jacob was sitting quietly beside me, his hand around my waist. I was tipsy. Just a little bit. For the first time in my life.

I looked up and saw Joans brother pop his head in the door.

"Your brother is here to pick you guys up" I told them, and their heads turned. "Are we heading back too?" I asked Jacob, and he nodded with a smile. We said our goodbyes, and stood up to leave. As we walked out, a guy wiggled his eyebrows at me as I past him. I arched my own, and his cocky smile became unsure. I sniggered inwards. Jacob pressed his hand lightly to the small of my back.

We got out in the fresh air and walked towards the car.

"I hate it when people do that to you" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, stop. That was nothing"

"But I don't like it" he pressed, as he opened the door for me. I stumbled in. He closed the door, and walked over to his side.

"Whoa." I said and shook my head a little "This is a really weird feeling"

The alcohol was making me a little dizzy. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before. Jacob smiled as the car purred to life.

"It won't last long though. Your temperature will burn it off. "

We drove in silence for a little while. I was glad Jake had come with me tonight. I knew he was scared something would happen to me. I turned over to look at him, and he sent me a quick smile. It seemed awful long since the last time I'd kissed that smile.

"Jake, pull over" I said suddenly, shocking even myself. It must be the alcohol speaking.

His eyes widened with understanding and he sent me a concerned glance.

"Oh" he said. "Just hold on, okay?"

Dear. He thought I was sick. He was probably afraid I'd throw up in his car or something.

"I'm not going to puke in your car" I said, indignant.

He sent me another look as he turned over to park in an empty parking lot.

"No, you're going to puke outside the car"

I sighed.

"I'm not ill, okay?"

His frowned in confusion.

"Then what...?"

"God, you can be so thick sometimes!"

In one movement I had climbed over to him, and placed myself on his lap. I wiggled my arm around his neck.

"Oh"

His lips formed the word as he understood, but no sound came out. I leaned down to kiss him.

* * *

_A.N: Omg, I just ended the chapter.__ I almost can't believe I did that to you. But I did. Muhahah. Don't hate me please, I have a couple of goodie chapters up for you next..._

_Oh, and this chapter is not an encouragement to minor drinking. But it happens. And so I wrote about it. _

_Thanks for all the amazing reviews:)_


	5. Sweet expectations

_A.N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! You make me smile:)_

_And I'll make it up for you for the mean way I ended the last chapter. I've tried to update extra fast, don't want any of you to die as some of you threatened to do, lol. Hope you don't hate me after reading this;)_

_Song: Ida Maria - Oh my God __(youtube it!)_

* * *

**Sweet Expectations**

* * *

"_God, you can be so thick sometimes!" _

_In one movement I had climbed over to him, and placed myself on his lap. I wiggled my arm around his neck. _

"_Oh" _

_His lips formed the word as he understood, but no sound came out. I leaned down to kiss him. _

* * *

It started out slow and gentle. Then my hands wound their way up through his hair, and his arms came up to wrap firmly around my waist. He kissed me feverishly, letting his tongue graze mine. His breath got more and more ragged for each minute. It definitely didn't _end_ slow and gentle.

I felt bold. It was probably the alcohol. But here, far away from mind-reading fathers and other possible disturbances, I felt like I could do anything. So I turned around on his lap to face him. I put my legs on each side on his hips so that I was straddling him. His arms wrapped around my waist completely, pressing me to him. Jacob shivered as he started to glide his hands up and down my back. I deepened the kiss, and he let out a quiet groan. I loved it when he did that.

I broke away from his lips only to plant a trail of kisses down his neck. His hands trailed down to my thighs, squeezing lightly, as he tugged a little at my knees. I understood, and lifted my knees up to wrap them around his waist, bringing us even closer. Then I turned my attention back to his lips again. I kissed him roughly as his tongue collided with mine. His lips were eager, hungry. That feeling I'd felt in the forest came back, the feeling of _want, _of _need. _My stomach started to tingle and I felt a sudden urge for more. More of him, more of this. Somehow this wasn't enough.

Then, his hands planted down firmly on my hips, pushing me a little away from him. He didn't stop kissing me, though, he just put some space between our bodies. I made an arguing sound and tried to wiggle back and close the distance. He didn't let me.

"No, Ness..." he mumbled against my lips, but I didn't listen. I wanted to be close to him. I needed to be close to him. I tried to wiggle closer, but his hands still held my hips firmly away from his body.

"Ness..." he mumbled again. His voice was husky. I ignored him. I tightened my legs around his waist and finally managed to close the the distance between us. I glued myself to him, wrapping my legs and arms tightly around him. I felt his body tense. And then I realized exactly why he'd wanted some space between us. I could _feel _it. Pressed against my thigh. I didn't even blush. I _was _bold today.

As I kept kissing him, I could feel his tense body slowly loosen up. His arms wrapped around me again, much more probing than before. My back, my sides, over my hips, and down my thighs. Over and over again. I put my hands behind his neck and pushed him closer. His hands fluttered over my shoulders and up my arms. I _wanted _him, and I showed him by putting a hand on his face. He groaned out loud and his hands played with the fabric of my top, a few fingers slipping under to touch the skin on the small of my back. It was as if they were wondering whether they dared to enter or not.

Like if to tell him that it was okay, I tugged at his t-shirt, so that I could press my hands to his tinted stomach. I could feel him tightening his abs. Slowly, looking for any sign that I was not comfortable with this, his hand started to glide up under my top, touching the skin on my back. I let my own hands wander up to his chest, and he held me tighter to him. I tugged at his t shirt again. Stupid clothing. I think he understood, but he didn't help me in removing it. His own hands were moving upwards under my top, caressing the skin on my back and on my sides. Then, as he reached the clasp of my bra, he froze and quickly moved his hands down again. I could hear his heart racing. Ahh. The classical bra-fear.

I reached back to put his hands on my back again, while kissing his mouth hungrily. This wasn't enough. I wanted more. I could feel his muscles tighten under my touch. My hands tugged at his shirt again. Then I felt his lips slide away from mine, only to leave a scorching trail of kisses down my jaw. As he placed his lips on my earlobe, I felt my hips buckle into his on their own accord. He reacted by holding his breath for a second, as if to suppress a groan. Then he tore his lips away from my neck.

"You're drunk" he said. His voice was ragged.

"Not very"

"We shouldn't be doing this"

"You don't like it?"

With a groan he reached out and kissed me, his teeth scraping my lips. I gripped his face between my fingers and pressed him closer. He put his palms on the exposed skin on my back, and rubbed me to him frantically. I could feel him beneath me. I buckled my hips again, and he didn't manage to suppress his groan this time. He let me do it one more time, before he placed his hands on my hips, restraining them. I noticed his hands were shaking.

"We should drive home"

His voice was hoarser than I expected. He kept his eyes closed.

"But..."

"Nessie, you're drunk. If not much, but still. And as much as I don't want to leave..." his voice trembled. "we really should."

I pouted. I knew he was right, sort of. I didn't regret anything though. He opened his eyes to send me a shaky smile. He leaned forward to kiss me softly on the mouth before he lifted me up from his lap. I climbed back in my seat. He started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot.

As we drove home, I thought about what had just happened. And I didn't blush, not even once. Not like me. Definitely still tipsy. I turned to look at him.

"Can I sleep at your place tonight?"

Still bold too, apparently. Jacob sent me a look that was both dubious and hopeful at the same time

"You think your parents would be cool with that?"

"Uhm" I hadn't really thought about that. "It's not like I haven't been sleeping at your place before. Do you think Billy would mind?"

Jacob made a sound between a laughter and a snort.

"Dad? He's been to bed for hours already. No, he wouldn't mind."

"Would you mind?"

Jacob turned to look at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I shrugged.

"I mean, I just thought that...you know, it would be nice. But if you don't, then..."

"Nessie" he cut me off. "I would like nothing more than for you to sleep at my place"

He sent me a look so earnest I couldn't help but smile.

"But..." he paused. Humph. Stupid but. He continued.

"I don't know if, I mean, is that what you really want?" To my surprise his cheeks reddened just a little bit. "I don't know if that's a good idea after what we just...you know"

"I asked if I could sleep at your house, Jacob, not if I could sleep with you"

"No no, I didn't mean it like that!" he hurried to say. Yup, he was definitely getting red. "I just though... I only have a limited amount of self control, you know"

"I wont jump you while you sleep, promise"

"No, no, I don't think, I mean, I didn't say..."

"Relax Jacob, I'm just joking with you" I chuckled. "You can take me home if you're such a wimp"

He sent me another look, and drove straight to La Push.

* * *

"Hi mom. It's Nessie"

I was leaning against the hood of Jakes car, talking on my cellphone. He'd parked the car on its usual spot in the garage outside his house.

"Hi honey. Is everything okay?"

I could hear the alarm in her voice.

"Everything is fine." I calmed her. "We just drove back. We're in La Push."

"Oh. Good." I could hear her relax in the other end. Then she processed my words "La Push?"

"Yeah. I'm sleeping here tonight" I said. I'd planned to find a smooth explanation, but hadn't got up with any. So there. The important was to not give the impression I was hiding something. If they got suspicious, I surely would not be allowed to stay here for one second longer.

"Why?" Her voice was unreadable.

"No reason. I'm just not tired. Maybe we'll watch a movie or something."

Jacob was sitting on the ground in front of me. He raised his eyebrows quizzically, a teasing smile on his lips. I shrugged.

"Hm." my mom just said. One beat. "Have you been drinking?"

"I've been drinking some. But it has mostly burned off by now"

"Is Billy there?"

"Yeah, he's here."

"Oh" she sounded pleased. "Okay then. Don't stay up too long"

The surprise on my face must have been obvious, because Jacob chuckled beside me.

"Oh, wait" my mother added. "Your father wants to talk to Jacob"

Jacobs smile suddenly got nervous as I reached him the phone. My father spoke with a low voice, probably so I wouldn't be able to listen. I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but I could snap out certain phrases. There was something about about a "conversation", and something about "her will" and the word "don't" many times. Jacob didn't say much, he mostly listened with a tense look on his face. The only thing he said was "yes", "no", "of course" and once he gritted his teeth and said "I would never". I wasn't sure if I really wanted to know what this conversation was about.

When he hung up, he turned to me with the same, tense smile. I winced, ready for the blow.

"It seems your father is afraid that _I'_m the one who's going to jump _you_".

I laughed, a little embarrassed. I knew Jacob was only joking, but I also knew there was some truth to it. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as I felt a raindrop land on my nose.  
"Let's go inside. It's going to rain" he said and started to walk in the direction of the house.

* * *

I was almost having second thoughts. Maybe not second thoughts, exactly. More regretting that in a moment of boldness I'd asked if I could stay. At his place. Tonight. Not that I didn't _want _to be here. I did. But I was afraid it would be awkward. It was really stupid of me to even think it, really, because it was never awkward with Jacob. But still, I did. Deep deep down I guess I was a little bit afraid that I would let him down somehow. I didn't know what he expected.

When I'd said sleep, I'd meant sleep. But he'd jumped to conclusions so quickly, and so had my parents, and then there had been repeated joking back and forth about jumping, in the non-dictionary-sense of the word. And I didn't know exactly what my father had told him. Maybe I didn't want to know. Now, with the alcohol burned out of my system, I suddenly wasn't that sure about how to do this.

I was standing in the bathroom facing the mirror, with the door firmly closed behind me. Billy had been asleep when we came home, and I could hear his steady heartbeat from his bedroom. Jacob had handed me one of his t-shirts to sleep in. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. The t-shirt was long, covering my backside and the top of my thighs. I'd taken off my shorts, so all I had under was underwear. I felt kind of ...nude. Though when I looked in the mirror, I could clearly see I wasn't. Anyway, when did I became this modest? I shook my head. This was silly. It was just Jacob, for crying out loud.

I removed the elastic band from my hair and let my curls fall down over my shoulders. I scooped up my top, shorts and socks from the bathroom floor and listened one more time to be sure Billy was still asleep, before I carefully opened the door and tiptoed down the hall towards Jake's room. Then my cellphone purred from inside his room. I launched myself through the tiny room and jumped over to the foot of the bed where I'd laid my jacked. I struggled a little bit to get it out the pocket before I answered, trying to do it as fast as possible not to let it wake Billy.

"Hello?" I said, keeping my voice low.

"Hi Nessie"

It was dad.

"What's up?"

"I thought I'd just let you know that there's a storm coming up. We're headed out to play"

Aah. Baseball. He continued.

"We just thought we'd let you know, in case you decided to come home and no one was there."

"Okay. No problem"

He hesitated.

"Everything going okay?"

"Everything's fine" I yawned. I _knew_ he would find an excuse to check on me. Make sure I wasn't crying, or out of breath, or distracted, or eager to hang up... I was neither, so he seemed to relax a little bit.

"Good. Sleep tight then"

"Enjoy the game"

"We will"

"Bye"

I shook my head as I put my phone back in the jacked pocket. So much or show, as Jacob had said to me a few days ago. Or maybe I was being prejudiced. I guess he would have called to tell me where they were no matter where I was sleeping.

A pair of arms wrapped around me then, and I closed my eyes and smiled. I'd been stupid, silly, to even think about awkwardness around Jake. It was _never _awkward around Jake. His arms pulled me closer, and he rested his head on my shoulder. I tried my best to conceal a yawn, but he wouldn't be fooled of course.

"Come on" was all he said. As I opened my eyes, I saw him make a sudden movement, sort of reaching forward. But then he straightened up and took my hand instead, as if he'd changed his mind.

I went over to the bed, wrapped the cover aside, and crawled in. As I laid my head down on the pillow, I was completely overwhelmed my his scent. I smiled. I liked sleeping here. It felt so comfortable and safe, and familiar somehow.

Jacob was still standing in the middle of the room, looking at me. Was he unsure if I wanted him to sleep in the bed with me? Maybe he was planning to sleep on the floor. Oh, _come on_. I patted the space beside me. He hesitated for one second before he carefully laid down. He wrapped the cover over the both of us, and then he wrapped his arm around my waist under the cover. I yawned again. What time was it? It was probably past 03.00 am. No wonder I was so tired.

Jacob leaned down and kissed me softly on the mouth, before he pulled me closer. He leaned his cheek down to rest by the top of my head, and I closed my eyes. " I love you" I mumbled. I don't know if he heard, because straight after I fell asleep.

* * *

_A.N: There's a nice little JPOV up for you next;)_


	6. Legs

_**A.N: **_

_Big thank you to all of you who have added me to favs and alerts! And to all of you who reviews, you are amazing. And a big thank you to all of you reviewers who doesn't have an account, and that I can't reply to in person. But thanks, it makes me smile:)_

_This is just a little something I wanted to write, from Jacobs point of view. I know it is a bit short, so I'll try to post the next chapter soon:) _

* * *

**Legs**

_-JPOV_

* * *

She was in the bathroom. I could hear her: Even though I tried very hard not to. It was against my reflexes to shut out anything that had to do with Nessie. She was standing calmly in the middle of the bathroom. Breathing. Thinking.

Her heartbeat fluttering maybe a tad faster than normal. I heard her let out a quiet sigh, and I ached to know what she was thinking about.

Jeez maybe I was becoming like Edward.

He was worried about her, and I totally get that. I mean, who wouldn't? The classical father-daughter-boyfriend worry. But for him to be worried about her because of _me, _was beyond my intelligence. I mean, he knew,my feelings for her, he had seen them first view. Front seats at the theater.

And still, he _had_ to tell me not to do anything against her will. A shiver ran down my back at the bare thought of someone doing anything to her against her will. His exact words had been not to do anything she wasn't "comfortable with"_. _I mean, come on, what did he think of me? I would never, ever. I gritted my teeth. He should know better than that, really.

I knew Edward and Bella were worried that we would do...well, _more. _Edward had talked to me about it one time before, how they thought _that_ was too soon. They thought she wasn't ready for that. As if he needed to tell me. As if I would ever do anything she wasn't ready for.

He hadn't given me any restrictions or anything, he'd just talked to me about it. And on the phone today, he'd sort of repeated what he'd said. Don't do anything she wasn't ready for, too soon. As if I didn't remember, or as if I couldn't control myself.

It was stupid really. I was, and had always been for Nessie just what she needed me to be. If she wasn't ready for The Big Step, then I wasn't either. If she suddenly turned out to be ready for _that, _then I would be too. I'd never wanted anything that she didn't.

* * *

I heard the bathroom door open quietly, and I turned away from the window. I'd opened it, just to get some fresh air and to make sure that everything was all right. It smelled normal; nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was fine. Even though I was only wearing sweatpants, as I normally did when I went to bed, the breeze from the window didn't feel cold against my skin.

Her cellphone rang just then. She'd left it in her jacket, which she'd left on top of the bed beside me. Who would call her this late? I didn't really need to ask. I'd bet my tail that it was Edward. For a fleeing second I wondered if I should maybe pick it up and bring it to her, but she leaped through the door just then, and every coherent thought I might have had left me the same second.

She was beautiful. I'd never seen her quite like this. Sure, she occasionally wore my sweats, my hoods or my t-shirts. But not _only_ my sweats, my hoods or my t-shirts. Usually she wore other clothes as well. But not this time. Not now.

She'd taken the elastic band away from her hair, to let it fall down freely around her shoulders. It was messy and knotty and I loved it. She'd put on my t-shirt. It was way too big for her. That was probably a good thing. It fell loosely around her, but I still couldn't help but notice the way it modestly hugged her curves here and there. It didn't show anything, really, but it clearly hinted how she would look under it. Under it. My mind went blank.

She was wearing my t-shirt, and only my t-shirt. My mind told me that she probably wore something under it, like, underwear, but I had to stop thinking about that right away or my thoughts would drift of to linger on things I really shouldn't linger on. Fuck.

I'd forgotten all about the phone. I didn't even hear the ringing. As she ran past me, her hair blew across my face, and a wave of her scent hit me straight in the face. It was overwhelming, and it took all of my self-control not to grab her, and pull her against me, kiss her. She reached her jacked, and leaned over just a little bit as she fumbled after her phone. That movement, small as it was drew my attention towards something that it would be a shame to overlook.

Her legs. My t-shirt reached down to the top of her thighs ,but it sure as hell did not cover much more. I'd seen her legs before. I'd seen her in a bikini, I'd seen her in towels, I'd seen her in shorts and skirts and tights and oversized t-shirts. But that had been before I saw her _this _way.

Her skin was pale and smooth and my fingers twitched after the sudden urge to touch. I imagined the feel of her skin under my fingers, I imagined touching her ankles, letting my hands glide up to her calf, behind her knee, touch the soft skin there. And further up, where the slight curve of her thighs began, all the way up to where my t-shirt ended, and the rest of the lines of her legs became imaginary.

I bit my tongue, refusing my mind to even go there.

She'd finally gotten hold of her phone, so she straightened up and put it against her ear. Her hair swayed lightly in the breeze from the window.

"Hello?" she said. I never got tired of that voice. She kept her voice down, probably to prevent waking dad. She always though of those things, and I felt my heart warm.

It was Edward. He told her they were going to play baseball. There was a storm coming up. I knew that, of course. Super-wolfy-sense. We always knew if there was going to be a storm. But it would be nothing major, and Nessie was with me so she would be fine. When he asked her if she was okay, I wasn't surprised really. He knew very well she was fine with me, which meant he was calling to check on us. Guess I kinda knew he would.

She hung up, while shaking her head. Some of her curls fell down the front of her shoulder, and I simply couldn't take it any more. I had to touch her. Maybe not the way I'd imagined, but I had to feel her under my fingers, in my arms, against my body.

I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. I was careful not to make the t-shirt slip upwards, but then I almost forgot all about it when she leaned her head back and I could see she'd closed her eyes. I pulled her closer to me, tightening the embrace. She let out a content almost inaudible sigh. I leaned down to put my cheek next to hers, and then rested my chin on her shoulder. My cheek lightly skimmed the soft skin by her neck, and I was surrounded by her scent. I closed my eyes and just gorged myself in the feeling of _her_.

She let out a little noise, and I opened my eyes to see her yawn. She was trying to muffle it though. She was tired. No wonder, in just a few hours it would be morning again. I should let her sleep.

"Come on" I said. I planned to scoop her up in my arms and carry her into the bed, but quickly changed my mind when I looked down her body. If the t-shirt hadn't slid up yet, it sure would then. So I grabbed her hand instead, and she walked with me over to the bed. Her hand slipped away from mine as she put the covers aside and then she crawled across the bed over to her side.

I froze, and I felt suddenly numb. When I said crawl, I meant _crawl_, like down-on-your-four-like-a-dog crawl. And when she did that, as if the act it self was not enough to get my imagination spinning, she also gave me an excellent view of...Well, to put it this way, the t-shirt slid up by itself this time. Just enough for me to see that she did wear underwear. Black, cotton-something, underwear that would probably be printed into my mind for ever.

I had no words. I just felt my mouth water like some, well, dog. I had to close my eyes for a second , even though my whole body was screaming for me to open them.

When I did, she had laid down, and she was smiling. She looked up at me, and patted the space beside her in bed. She wanted me to lay down beside her. She had no idea what she did to me, what she'd just done. I suddenly felt horribly perverted.

It wasn't weird Edward had called, really. I _was_ a dog. He probably knew me better than I did. Here I was, staring at my Nessie, drooling by the mere sight of her, while she was totally oblivious. Here I was, troubling to restraining myself, while for her, nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. I almost felt guilty even looking at her, because not even now could I not notice the way the t-shirt softly hugged her body...

I ripped myself up from the numbness and sat down on the bed. The first thing I did was to cover her completely under the blanket. I didn't need to make this worse for myself. It didn't help much though, when the first thing she did was to somehow move closer to me under the cover. I could feel her body and naked legs against mine.

Hell. Screw Edward.

I wrapped my arm around her, and leaned down to kiss her, my body craving hers.

She yawned then, and I managed to snap out of it. She should sleep. She needed sleep. She was tired. I told myself that was what she needed, and at once I felt myself relax a little bit. I would give her anything she needed. Always. Whatever it was. I gently leaned down and kissed her goodnight. When my lips touched hers my body was instantly craving more, but what I wanted was not important.

Her lips felt amazing and I never wanted to end it, but I did anyway. She needed sleep. I pulled her closer to me, and felt her rest her head by my neck. Her light breaths were relaxed. I could feel the air from her mouth against my skin, making goosebumps down my chest. When the cold air from the window didn't manage to give me goosebumps, she would.

I rested my head on top of her head, and just held her close. We lay like this for a little while. I thought she'd gone to sleep when she suddenly mumbled "Iloveyou", the words melting together. My heart swelled and I felt warm all over. " I love you" I whispered back, looking down at her face. She didn't react at all; she must have finally fallen asleep. I leaned my cheek back, resting it on the top of her head.

I was without doubt the luckiest dog on the planet.

* * *

_A.N: _

_Please remember to review:)_


	7. Breakfast

_A.N: _

_My writing-mode is going kind of slow at the moment, so I need to just take a few days away from ff and just write. I will continue (I'm not even halfway yet) but my inspiration is kind of low right now. __Please review if you'd like me to continue:) I will, but it will go way better and faster if I get some feedback. _

_Oh, and a big wolfhug to all my faithful reviewers! This story wouldn't be here if not for you._

_Anyways, here's another chapter for you. Hope you'll like it. _

* * *

**Breakfast **

_NPOV_

* * *

When I woke, I felt groggy. I couldn't quite make out my surroundings at first. Why was I in Jacob's bed? But then I remembered, and looked around. Jake wasn't here. I looked at the alarm clock. It was only 7 am. Way too early for a Saturday. I heard some muted voices then, from outside. Their voices were drifting in towards the open window. It sounded like Jake and Billy and...grandpa Charlie?

Someone said goodbye, and then I heard the engine of a car start up before it drove off away from the house. Footsteps. Door. More footsteps. And then the bedroom door opened and Jacob entered. He looked down at me, sprawled out in his bed. He smiled, before he sat down on the side of the bed.

"I could get used to that sight" he noted as he laid down on his back beside me.

"What sight?"

"You waking up in my bed, seven o'clock in the morning"

I looked down at myself. I was a total mess. He must be joking.

"Where are Billy going?"

"Fishing. With Charlie. I just needed to help him out"

Jacob turned over so that he was laying on his side, resting his head on his arm. He was still only wearing the sweats he wore last night. He sent me a grin.

"Looks like we have the house to ourselves today."

My eyes widened. "Did you tell them I slept here?"

He smiled "They didn't ask. But if they'd asked I would've. It's not a secret, is it?"

"No, but they would...you know, assume things."  
He hesitated one beat before he answered

"So?"

I wasn't quite sure of what to say to that, so I just looked at him and frowned. He laughed.

"Relax, you know dad doesn't mind if you stay here. He's real casual about it. And I stay over at your place all the time."

True. I guess this wasn't very different.

"So, what do you want to do today then?" I asked, tugging the bedspread all the way up so that only my head was peeking up at the top.

"I can think of a thing or two..."

Jacob leaned down to kiss me, placing his body over mine, on top of the bedspread. His lips found mine, and his hands wound their way through my already messy hair.

It didn't really become more than a thing or two, though, since it _was _seven o'clock in the morning and that meant we had only gotten a few hours of sleep. Sometime we must have fallen asleep again, because I woke up a few hours later with him snuggled up behind me, his arm resting heavy around my waist.

I managed to sneak out from it without waking him. I put on one of his way-too-big-for-me shirts and a pair of socks, fully aware I was looking like a bum, and shuffled out into the kitchen. I made coffee. Jacob liked coffee, and I liked fooling myself that I liked coffee. Which mostly meant I liked tasting one or two sips of his coffee, but what the heck.

I poured a cup for my self, feeling real grown up, before I went outside on the front porch hoping no one was lurking around in the forest to see me standing here in no pants. That would surely get the gossip going. Not that I cared much.

It was a sunny day, for once. It had been raining, a lot, but otherwise there were no traces after the storm. My family would be home today, I guess. Or out hunting. Not on any public places at least, with their sparkly skin.

I heard footsteps, and Jake appeared in the doorway behind me. He took in my outfit and smiled.

"I could get used to that too"

He bent down and gave me a soft peck on the mouth.

"Since when do you drink coffee, by the way?"

I took another sip, but grimaced a little. The good-two sips were over.

"I don't. Here"

I reached him the cup and he chuckled.

We shared a couple of lazy hours out in the sun on the front porch. We, or well,_ he_ drank coffee, and then we ate breakfast. We talked about graduation for a little while. My exams would begin soon, and then I would graduate. I didn't know exactly what to do next year yet, but it didn't stress me really. I had forever to decide. Jacob had graduated a couple of years ago. And now it was my turn .

Of course, originally Jacob would have graduated a lot sooner, but since he'd become a werewolf the whole school-concept had been a bit lopsided. And then I'd been born, and he had missed a lot just because he couldn't bear to be away from me. You know, imprinting.

So he had lost a few years, but finally graduated none the less. Now he earned some money on fixing cars now and then, and some other mechanic-stuff I really didn't know much about. There was no chance he had time for a full-time job, with being a wolf and all. He'd talked about college, but he didn't rush it either. Honestly, I think it was because he didn't want to leave me, but I'd never asked.

* * *

I was sitting on the banister with my face towards the sun and he was sitting in the only rocking-chair watching me. I loved having the sun on my face like this. I couldn't get a tan, of course, but it warmed nicely.

"I think you should borrow some shorts" he said after a long silence, completely out of the blue. I didn't open my eyes when I answered, I just kept my face towards the sun.

"I can wear my own, the one I wore yesterday"

"Hm" he paused. "Maybe you should put it on"

I turned to look at him.

"You mean, like, now?"

"Yeah"

"Err...okay?" I sat up straight, confused. "Why?"

"I don't want any neighbors to see you like that."

"You don't have any neighbors in range of vision, Jacob"

Seriously, this t-shirt wasn't _that_ short. No underwear peeking out, and I even wore a shirt and socks as well. But _sure_. I rolled my eyes, a little annoyed. If he didn't like that I wore his clothes, then fine. I wouldn't.

I jumped down from the banister. Maybe he was uncomfortable with me when I was dressed like this. Or maybe he really was embarrassed about what others would say. _Fine._ I huffed.

I started walking towards the front door, but never got that far. All of a sudden he rushed up behind me, grabbed my shoulder and whirled me around before he pinned me to the wall next to the door. His lips were on mine, kissing me feverishly. I forgot all about the clothes, actually I forgot pretty much everything. My whole brain went numb except for a little piercing voice in the back of my mind, screaming _more, more. _I wrapped my arms around his neck almost immediately, and his hands searched their way up my sides.

"Too late" he mumbled.

"What?" I pulled back from his lips to look at him. It was with great effort, believe me.

"It's too late" he continued, moving his lips down my neck as he spoke. " I don't want anyone besides me to see you like this, that's true. But the main reason you should put some clothes on is that I really can't help it any longer"

"Can't help what?" I said, dumbfounded

"This"

He mouth was back on mine, rough against my lips, and I could feel his tongue searching for mine. I reached up to put my fists into his hair, tugging a little to bring him closer. He deepened the kiss, and his hands roamed further up my sides.

My mind went blank again and I think I might have let out a little moan or something; I didn't really control my actions any more. I wasn't even aware of my t-shirt sliding up on its own before he'd tugged it back down. He put his arms around my waist and lifted me up, never breaking the kiss. I felt him move, and then my back was pressed into something soft. When I opened my eyes he had moved us inside and laid me down on the couch, pinned between him and the soft cushions.

His kiss became even rougher and I pulled him closer to me. I could feel every inch of his body pressed against mine. I noticed I could feel the warm skin and his abs against my stomach, and realized my t-shirt had slid up again. I briefly thought that I should maybe pull it back down but then he put a hand behind my neck and deepened the kiss and I forgot all about it.

I strained closer, my body aching to be closer to him. The voice in my head kept screaming, louder and louder. I just wanted more. More of him, more of this. A glowing, tingling feeling spread in my stomach, the same I'd felt last night. I just felt an urge to be near him, closer. This was not enough.

His mouth broke contact with my lips, and I made a protesting sound. He moved his lips downwards to press them under my chin, and I tilted my head backwards without really knowing I did. All I could think of was his hands, pressing against the small of my back, making my back arch into him. He pressed me to him as he continued to make a trail of kisses down my throat, all the way to my collarbone. He stopped there, only to kiss his way towards my shoulder. His hands were roaming up and down my sides, making my back arch even more.

I tugged his hair lightly and he was back against my lips in less than a second. I parted my lips again, and could feel his tongue enter my mouth. His breath was ragged, and the warm feeling in my stomach spread to the rest of my body.

I removed my hands from his hair, only to place them against his chest. I pushed a little, and he broke the kiss to search my face. But that wasn't what I wanted. I lunged my head forward and captured his lips again. I continued to push his chest away from me, and as he got up I followed, never breaking the kiss. I pushed him back into a sitting position and settled my self on his lap. I placed a knee on each side of his lap, and I could feel him almost melt down in the couch under me.

His arm wound up to my back and then started to move up and down my sides frantically. I was almost panting, and so was he. My hands started to roam up and down his upper body, and he did the same with me. He let his hands wander down my hips and down my thighs, and I almost gasped when I felt his hands against my bare skin.

I realized I was straddling him wearing only a pair of panties, and that it might could be a little misleading, but I couldn't find it in me too care. His hands felt rough against my thigh. Still not enough. I kissed him more forcefully, and he answered by moving his hands up to my waist, bringing me closer.

I almost felt dizzy, but didn't care. I flickered my tongue against his bottom lip. His hands started to roam again, up and down my sides. I almost gasped out loud when I could feel his thumb grace the bottom of my bra. He had never done that before. Did he do that on purpose? Was he thinking about...more? The surprise was closely followed by anticipation, and the tingling feeling in my stomach nearly exploded. Purely on reflex I leaned forward, deepening the kiss and pressing me closer to him. In the movement, I had without meaning to do so adjusted so that his hands were halfway placed over my breasts.

He froze for a second, as if he was about to pull back. My head screamed in protest, and I continued to kiss him just as wildly as before. After a few seconds he came to life as well, his lips turning desperate against mine. Hesitantly, he inched his hands upwards. I could hear his heartrate accelerate. I gave a resigned sigh before I leaned down even further, urging him on. His hands wrapped fully around my breasts, and his breath caught, but again I couldn't care. I kissed him greedily, my tongue battling his.

He grew more confident then, and his hands pressed against me a little bit, testing. I surprised myself by thinking that I wanted this. Him. I tightened my knees around him, and I could feel his teeth grace my lips. His hands against my breasts became even more confident, and started to explore on their own. I almost shivered by the mere feeling of him touching me. Still, this was not enough. I wanted more, needed more. He made a sound into my mouth, and I pressed myself against him as close as possible.

The phone rang. A loud shrilling, annoying noise. We ignored it. I though he was going to get up and answer it though, but he just reached up, placing his hands on my back and tipped me over back on the sofa. He pressed me down against the cushions, again pining me under his body. His lips crashed back against mine.

I was laying on my hair and it was tugging but I barely noticed it. My pulse was thundering in my ears, almost as loud as Jacobs breathing. My lips couldn't get enough of his. He kissed me feverishly, and one of his hands fumbled their way back on top of the t-shirt to caress my breast again, his big hand wrapping around it easily. Gently, testing, fumbling, pressing, fondling. I marveled in the sensation of it, the feeling of it. This was completely new to me, to us. My mind drifted off to wondering where this would lead us, what could happen next.

The phone rang again. Annoying thing. It could be important though. Jacob made no move to answer it, he didn't even make a sign that he'd heard it. I made a little sound and tried to remove my lips from his. He didn't let me.

"Ignore it" he mumbled.

He slid a hand down to wrap over my hip, and then traced his hand down my thigh down to my knee. I nearly did, but then it rang again, and I managed to pull away from his lips.

"It could be important"

"S'not"

He leaned forward and placed his lips on the side of my neck, leaving a blazing hot trail of kisses all the way back to my ear.

"Jacob"

He made a sound halfway between a grumble and a sigh, before he reluctantly pushed himself up from the sofa. He turned to look at me, and the corner of his lips turned up into a smile. He very obviously gave me a glanceover, and I peeked down as well. Oh. I forgot I didn't exactly wear pants.

My t-shirt had slid up (again) to reveal some of my panties . I was a mess, my hair sprawled around my head in messy waves. While he, he looked amazing of course. Okay, maybe his lips was a little more red than usual. And his hair was messy. But still. It's not fair.

He leaned down to kiss me softly, still passionate but toning it down several notches.

"Just stay right there, okay?"

He pulled back to send me a warm look, and I could see him considering just laying right back down with me.

"Jake, the phone" I reminded him, and he snapped out of it. He halfway jumped over the sofa on his way into the kitchen, and I could hear him mutter some things about phones and what he'd like to do with them.

I laid back on the sofa and let out a deep sigh. My pulse was still thumping unevenly. What had just happened? What _could_ have just happened? I noticed I was smiling. Or grinning, rather.

Jacob had answered the phone. He didn't say much, but mostly listened. After a while he hung up. I expected him to come back into the living room, but he didn't. The whole house was very quiet. I sat up. He didn't make a sign or noise telling me he was on his way back. I got up from the couch completely, and carefully walked into the kitchen.

"Jake?"

He was standing with his back to me, his arms leaning on the counter in front of him. He'd put the phone back on the shelf. He didn't react and I got instantly worried.

"Jacob?" I walked over to him hesitantly

As I reached his side and could see his face, my worry was confirmed. His face was almost like a mask of stone, his whole face dragged with dismal and sadness.

"What happened?" I noticed my voice was quivering.

He looked at me, but didn't meet my gaze for more than a couple of seconds before it wandered of to nowhere in particular.

"Billy's at the hospital again"

His voice was quivering too. It must have been Charlie on the phone. I didn't know what to say, so I just wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. Eventually his arms wrapped around me as well.

"I have to get going" he said, his voice coming out in a barely audible whisper.. I just nodded. Even if he couldn't see it, I knew he felt it against his neck.

"I'll drive" I said, and he didn't object. Funny how easily you could drop from flying high to end up crawl on the ground. At least that what what this felt like.

* * *

"What did Charlie say?"

Jacob was sitting beside me in the passenger seat of the Rabbit. He hadn't said much since we left, and I hadn't asked him since we were in a hurry. I'd put on the clothes I wore yesterday while he'd been on the phone with Rachel. Rachel and Paul had planned to come to La Push today, but now it seemed they would be going down to the hospital instead. I had no idea how serious the situation was – Jacob hadn't said much. I glanced over to him. He was sitting quietly beside me, his hands resting in his lap.

"It was the same that happened last week" His voice was bitter "He'd gotten ill while they were out fishing, and Charlie had called the hospital just in case. And then he'd gotten worse".

Jacob spoke in a low, even voice, but I could hear sadness, fear and even resentment in his tone. He spoke as if he was expecting this to happen all along. I glanced over to him again. He was staring blankly down at his palms.

"It doesn't have to mean anything" I said carefully. I knew what his fears was. "He'll probably recover just fine"

Jacob didn't answer, but moved his head up to stare out the window. I could somehow hear skepticism in that silence, but I didn't push it. We would find out soon enough.

* * *

We finally reached the hospital and walked it. I wished Carlisle was still working here. That would have made it a little bit easier. I grabbed Jacobs hand as they told us the directions to Billy's room.

We found Billy happy and easy-going as ever, laying in a white hospital-bed with Charlie by his side. Billy seemed glad to see Jacob, and he kept his easy-going, playful tone. When we asked him how he was he just waved it off;

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It was just a little wake-up call. Everybody's overreacting as usual."

As he said the last part I noticed Charlie clenching his teeth. Not out of anger, but as if to keep himself from protesting. Jacob noticed it to. He was looking down at his father with worried eyes, his lips pressed tight together.

"They insist to keep me here over night, so I wont be able to get home before tomorrow." Billy said. "Just in case, they said. Completely unnecessary, but what can I do?" He shrugged, smiling.

We stayed the next hour, talking about Billy and what had happened, and then quite a few not-so-important things. I couldn't help but noticing that Charlie was eyeing me and Jacob an awful lot, but I couldn't get myself to think about that now.

I would have to find out his problem later.

* * *

_A.N: So, what do you think? Please consider leaving a review. I desperately need an inspiation-boost right now. _

_By the way, I've written the next chapter. It has a new twist and I have to say it was very fun to write._

_Surprise surprise... I'll try to put it up next week-end;)_


	8. Animal Planet

_A.N:_

* * *

_Hi everyone! Here's a new chapter for you. FINALLY, I know. I've been separated from my dearest macbook for one week, that's why I couldn't update sooner. We missed each other intensely, but now we're back together and we're back on track._

_Thanks to your wonderful feedback. You pushed me over a 100 reviews! Holy cow! I thought my eyes were going to pop out when I saw it. You rock my socks!_

_And the twist is – tam tam tam - CPOV . As in Charlie's point of view. Since it's not very long I'll post the next one in a few days. Faster if I you give me some reviews;)*winkwink* Just kidding, it will be up soon;)_

_**Creds to -Katherine-Alvers- for giving me the idea to this chapter!**_

_First: a little reminder. In the last chapter Jacob and Nessie were going hot'n steamy on the couch, but then the phone rang. It was Charlie, telling Jacob that Billy was in the hospital. Jacob and Nessie drives to the hospital, and Charlie is there as well. Billy insists that he's just fine. _

* * *

**Animal Planet**

_CPOV_

* * *

I didn't really think about it first. Couldn't blame myself for that. Just the look on that kids' face when he entered and saw his dad laying there was enough. I felt so sorry for him right there, with everything he'd been through.

Growing up without a mother, and now this. Billy was just waving it off like always. At first it irritated me, why couldn't he see how serious this was? But then I looked at him, and instantly I understood.

Billy knew perfectly how the situation was, but he didn't want to trouble his son with more heartache. Not that Jacob was fooled. I could see it in his face when he was looking at his dad – he understood perfectly how the situation was. But maybe it was a good thing Billy did it anyway. Maybe it kept the spirit up.

Of course I was worried for him, he was my best friend, but some part of me believed that it would all work out just fine. It would. I really believed it would. I made myself nod reassuringly. He was only a couple of years older than me for Christ sake. And I felt healthy as a horse. He would be just fine, I was sure. He would recover.

I did really feel sorry for Jacob. He had been through enough, and then some. Growing up without a mother, taking care of his handicapped father, and tearing his heart out a couple of times over my daughter.

I felt for him then, I really did, but he was way past that now it seemed. And then there was all the...other stuff. The stuff I tried really hard not to think about, the stuff I couldn't get to wrap my head around.

I still remember that day Jacob dragged me out in the backyard, turned into a monster of an animal and then back to himself again as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. I thought I had gone mad.

Animal Planet was never the same again.

And now this. The kid had been through enough, that's for sure. So all in all, it wasn't weird really that I didn't take notice of it right away. There was other, more pressing things to consider first.

But as the topic of the conversation grew lighter, the smiles grew more sincere, and the mood lifted a little bit, I started to notice.

Jacob had arrived with Reneesme. I had watched them both grow up, and anyone who didn't see the bond between them would be blind. I hadn't really thought of it much before, other than being fascinated by Jacobs obvious care for this little girl.

Not surprised, never surprised. The girl had spellbound me and everyone else from the moment I first met her. But fascinated, certainly. Not many teenagers would choose babysitting over going out on a Saturday night. He did.

Every time.

It had astonished me, but then again, Jacob was a special kid. There was no doubt he cared for the little girl and enjoyed her company. I was just glad to see him happy. As she had gotten older, or well, when she...

I paused in my train of thoughts. This was one of the unthinkable things. The strictly need-to-know. Don't want to know. She'd grown up _fast. _I'd gotten used to it now, I guess, it wasn't so bad now. She should have been much younger, true, but now at least there wasn't any noticeable difference from each time I saw her. It was before, and it had freaked me out every time.

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. She'd gotten older, and their friendship was still rock steady. No one outgrew the other, they kept together.

Good for them. He was a good kid. She was a good girl. He really deserved some happiness, and she definitely made him happy.

When they'd entered the hospital door holding hands, I didn't even think about it. I guess she was being a friend, giving him some moral support. I didn't start to think about it until later.

I noticed how close they were standing. They were good friends, sure, but it was like if they were drawn together somehow, I couldn't describe it.

And then he turned to smile at her, and the look upon his face... I couldn't even describe it, it was so filled with love and affection that it almost made me stagger. He'd never looked at my daughter that way, not even close, and I knew how he'd felt about her. The look on his face was so potent it almost made me think back to my own younger days...

Then, out of the blue, he actually wrapped his arm around her waist, and puller her a little bit closer. My eyes narrowed. What was this?

I glanced over at Billy to see if he'd noticed it too. He was completely unaffected, talking to Jacob as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Was this normal for them? Did Jacob act like this towards all of his friends? No wonder Bella had hit him when he pushed the boundaries. But this was not like that. I felt my eyes bulge as I saw her wrap her arm around him as well.

I tried to shake it off. I must be imagining things. They were in fact only holding around each other. Friends did that. It was a normal, friendly act.

But that look he'd sent her... I must have imagining things. I must have. She was just a kid. How old was he again? Twenty two? Twenty three? I remember he'd past twenty, but that was some time ago. As for her...She was young enough. Too young for him.

I looked at Reneesme. And then I looked again. She didn't look much younger than him. I stared. How had this happened? Her face was the same, her hair was the same. But she was no early teenager any more. She seemed...older. Why ? It couldn't just be the clothes, could it?

She was wearing shorts and a top, not sweats and hoodies like she normally did. The clothes were grown up-clothes. And her body was neither one of an early teenagers, but of a woman. When did this happen? Was it one of the unthinkable things, the way she grew up so quickly like before?

I felt like I was missing out on something huge.

Sue, Rachel, Paul and arrived just then, and my thoughts were interrupted. The small hospital room got a little bit crowded, and Jacob thought maybe it was time for him and Reneesme to leave. Maybe it was my queue to leave as well. Leave Billy to his family. He would be fine, after all.

I watched Jacob saying goodbye to his father. Maybe I would drop by Jacob on the way home. See if he was really alright, talk to him privately, maybe offer him to sleep on my couch for the night. I offered to pick Billy up the next day, but Jacob said he could do it. And Jacob and Nessie left, his arm still around her waist.

I stared.

Did she even know his...issues? The picture of the gigantic wolf standing in my backyard was like printed into my mind.

But she was not normal either. Sorry kiddo, but she wasn't. Something was different. With her, with Jacob, with Bella and the whole family of theirs.

I eyed Paul. He was one of them, I just knew it. He was almost as big as Jacob. It wasn't natural. But what about Nessie? She wasn't normal either.

"Charlie?"

"Huh?" I heard myself say, my eyes snapping up to see Billy chuckle.

He'd obviously said my name one or two times before I reacted.

"I said, what's on your mind today? You seem awfully deep in thought."

I looked down at Billy. He would know. He was my best friend and he wouldn't lie either. The question was if_ I _wanted to know.

Probably not. But I couldn't help it. I had to ask. Need to know or not; she was family.

"She doesn't..." I paused clenching and unclenching my teeth.

Billy sent me a funny look. I looked over at Rachel, Sue and Paul to make sure they were deep in conversation. They wouldn't hear. I tried again.

"Does she..She doesn't morph into something too, does she?" I finally pressed out. He would know I was talking about Reneesme.

Billy chuckled. I was glad he was amusing himself, cus' I certainly wasn't.  
"No Charlie." he finally said. "she doesn't morph into anything, I'm quite sure"

I relaxed a little bit. So she wasn't one of _them. _

* * *

_A.N: i know it's short and that I've kept you waiting for a while, but there really wasn't more I wanted to say in CPOV. I'll try to post the next tomorrow and make up for it;) Okay?_


	9. Coffee

A.N:

_Glad you liked the CPOV! And thanks for the amazing reviews. Since some of you doesn't have an account,it's difficult for me to reply in person. But it means a lot, thankyouthankyouhankyou! I can try to answer some of your questions here though:_

_- I will make more chapters in JPOV, now and then. I've planned two others so far:) But Reneesme will still be the main point of view._

_-I know some of you would like to "see them do it" (right, JellyBelly?;) But I can't tell you what's gonna happen, can I? Where is the fun in that?:P_

_-I will update at _least _once a week. So far there has been around twice a week, sometimes three. But at least once a week, unless I have a good reason not to. _

_-As for how many chapters that are left; I don't know! I haven't written them yet! I'm quite a few chapters ahead of you though ( I like to have a head start). And I've just gotten a new idea for a turn I the story, which means it will be longer than I first intended. At least I know we're not even halfway._

_And back to this chapter: creds to _**-Katherine-Alvers- **_for the whole idea of Charlie. _

_See, I listen to your suggestions, people. If you've got some ideas you'd like to see happen, spit them out. You can influence this! You can make a change!_

_I'll shut up now._

* * *

**Coffee**

_- NPOV_

* * *

When Rachel, Paul and Sue arrived, Jacob and I left since the room started to get a bit crowded. I got into the drivers seat again, and Jacob didn't object this time either. He was sitting beside me, staring thoughtfully out of the window.

"You know, I think Charlie is up to something" I tried to keep a smile on my face, just to lighten the mood and get his mind off things. "He kept staring at us".

"He did?" Jacob seemed surprised, and obviously hadn't noticed. He turned to look at me, his face no longer sad but curious.

"Uh-huh" I said, pleased to see his mood was better. "He kept eyeing you and me back and forth. You should think he was brooding to solve a case or something. Policeman, you know."

"You know what? He probably was." Jacob frowned, a little smile playing on his lips. " I bet he was thinking about all the things he don't want to know."

I laughed, because Jake was probably right. And besides, I'd managed to take his mind off things. Yey.

"He doesn't know we're together, though" he added silently, and I stopped laughing immediately. On the other hand, this got Jacob laughing, reading my horrid silence correctly.

"What, Nessie?" he chuckled "Are you embarrassed by me? Is that why you don't want him to know? I'm offended"

I reached my tongue out to him, which made him laugh even more. I had to just look at him a little bit before I answered. I was just so happy his normal good mood was back. I hated to see him down and depressed.

"_No" _I said at last, "I'm not _embarrassed. _But you know, to him _this_" I gestured my hand back and forth between us "must seem like cradle-snatching.". Unfortunately, my choice of words got Jake howling again, with laughter that is.

"Ugh, _come on!"_ I insisted, almost laughing myself. His mood was definitely better. "You know what I mean. You know that to him I'm probably very underage, while you're definitely not. I'm supposed to be _seven,_ remember? And besides there's the whole past drama with you being in love with Charlie's daughter which also happens to be my mom. It's not weird if he's a little bit freaked out"

Jacob shook his head, still laughing. I smiled, simply because he was.

"He'll get over it. He'll find out sooner or later anyway. Besides, he's gotten used to weird over the past few years."

"You calling me weird?"

"Just a little bit"

I slapped his shoulder, maybe just a little bit harder than I normally would, and he complained loudly. I studiously ignored him, which made him laugh again.

When his laughter sobered up, I sent him a quick glance. He was smiling, and he seemed content and relaxed again. Of course he would feel better now that he knew Billy was okay. Good.

"See, everything turned out just fine" I said, smiling. I reached out a hand to stroke the place I'd playfully hit him just seconds ago. He smiled back. He knew that I was talking about Billy.

"Yeah" was all he said, before resting his head against the seat. I turned my attention back to the road.

* * *

We reached La Push and I parked in front of his house. We walked in, and Jacob immediately slumped down into a chair. I took off my jacked, found one of his hoods and zipped it on. Much more comfy. It was in the middle of the afternoon, and I realized maybe it was about time I called my parents, let them know where I was. So I called my mom, and quickly explained everything that had happened. She asked me if I knew when I would be coming home, but I told them I didn't know.

As I hung up I glanced over at Jacob. He was waiting patiently for me to get off the phone, staring blankly out the window. I wandered off into the kitchen in the intention of finding and bringing him something drinkable, but all I ever found was the coffee maker. Again. Guess coffee was all they ever drank in this house. Coffee there is then.

As I got the machine going, Jacob appeared in the doorway behind me. I jumped up to sit on the counter beside the window, my legs dangling above the floor. He grabbed a stool and sat down in front of me, looking up.

"How are you?" I asked him seriously, checking his mood.

"I'm okay. No harm done, right?"

He smiled a little.

"Give me a real smile" I demanded, jokingly trying to cheer him up.

"I'm smiling"

"A real smile"

"I am"  
"No you're not"

"Yes I am"

"Are not"

"Yeah"

"Nope"

"You little..." he burst out laughing, as his fingers fluttered up to my neck, trying to tickle me. He knew I was asking for it. I shrieked, and fought against his fingers. He jokingly tugged the zipper of my hood down a little bit, as if to get better access to my neck.

Slowly, the atmosphere in the room started to sober up, and the laughter faded. He turned more serious, and I stopped laughing completely. Jacob gazed at me with unreadable eyes, which made me wonder what he was thinking. I gazed back at him, suddenly unsure of the situation.

Then, very slowly, his hand on my zipper started to move downwards. He pulled the zipper down, and moved his eyes from my face and down to his hand on the zipper. Slowly, he zipped it over my chest and down my stomach, until it opened completely. His gaze moved upwards, tracing over my body as if he seemed unable to control it. For once, I did not blush. When his eyes met my face he had the same, unreadable expression as before.

He put his hand on my knee, then slowly started to move it upwards until he reached to top of my thigh. His gaze followed his hand upwards the whole way. I wanted to burst out and kiss him. So bad. I almost did too, but then he moved his eyes to mine again. He saw something there, I don't know what, but it made him sort of snap out of it. He grinned, and tugged me lightly in the stomach.

"See, I'm smiling"

I felt like jello. In a good way. A good, shaky way. I didn't want him to snap out of it.

I managed a smile.

A few moments past in silence before he said something again.

"You don't have any bad feelings about what you said before, have you?" he asked quietly.

I turned to look at him again. He was studying me, and his face was thoughtful and serious.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"You mentioned... your mom. And me. Before you were born. I just wanted to make sure that you're okay with it. Because that was nothing. You know that, don't you?"

His voice was worried and a little unsure.

"I don't have a problem with it" I said, smiling. I didn't like to talk about it, true, but it wasn't a problem.

"You sure? You know it was only to bring me to you in some sick, twisted way"

I knew that. We had talked about this before.

"I know" I said "But you can't blame me for not wanting to talk about it." I sent him another smile, to show him I was fine with it, really.

"I guess not." he smiled "Just know that I love you. If there's only one thing in the whole world you can know for sure, it's that I love you".

I leaned down to kiss him then, I couldn't help it. He kissed me back, very tenderly, placing his hands on each side of my waist under my now open hood. The kiss grew more intense, but all too soon he pulled back to look at me.

"Nessie" he said. His voice was huskier than I expected. He placed his hand back on my thigh, and met my gaze. He seemed hesitant, nervous almost.

"You know, earlier today..:" he started "Before Charlie called."

I felt my stomach tingle as I remembered. The couch, kissing, touching... I remembered perfectly. Jacob took my light blush as a confirmation and continued.

"I just need to know if that...If you was okay with that. With me touching you like that. I guess I got a little carried away, and maybe I shouldn't have. If you think that was too much, I'm really sorry and I wo..."

I didn't let him finish. Instead I leaned down, placed my hand around his neck and brought his lips to mine. I heard the scraping of the stool against the floor as he stood up, making my head tilt upwards.

He kissed me back just as forcefully as I was kissing him. His almost apology was already forgotten. The coffee too. He pressed his body to stand between my legs, bringing me closer. My arms wrapped around him.

I could hear a car arrive outside the front of the house, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I couldn't even remember the topic of our conversation.

Jacob pulled back then, his hands wrapping around my face preventing me from following. I made an arguing sound which made him smile.

"It's Charlie" he said as I heard a car door open and close.

"How do you know?" I asked, puzzled. He couldn't smell Charlie through the door, could he?

"I could recognize the sound of that engine anywhere" he said.

Of course he could.

I heard footsteps approach the house. It would probably be wise to de-tangle ourselves a little bit, I just didn't _want _to. Jacob reached down to kiss me one last time before Charlie reached the front porch, and I buried my hands in his hair just one final time. Oh, why would Charlie have to come _now_?

Then we heard a sharp intake of breath and the crunching sound of the footsteps stopped. We both turned around to see what had just happened. As I did, I turned around to look directly into Charlies stunned face trough the window. He was standing on the front porch, his hand outstretched to knock on the door, and it looked like he'd all coincidentally glanced through the window on his way past it. He'd seen us kissing, and was now frozen in place.

I guess my suspicions at the hospital had just been confirmed.

Jacob calmly took a step back and didn't seem to be troubled at all. I quickly jumped down from the counter as Jacob went to open the door. He opened it and then stepped aside so that Charlie could enter.

"Hi Charlie. Come on in"

Charlie hesitated before he got in and turned his eyes to glare at me. I winced.

"What's going on here?" he said sternly, cutting straight to the point. No pretending. I didn't know what to say, but Jacob did.

"I was just kissing Nessie when you arrived"

Charlie sent him a glare as if daring Jacob to mess with him, but Jacob was completely serious.

"And why would you do that?" Charlie didn't budge.

"Why wouldn't I?" Jacob smiled, before adding boldly. "She's my girlfriend."

Charlie's face turned red in an instant, and I was afraid he might burst something. He wasn't that much younger than Billy.

"She is now, is she? Does your father know about this?" He addressed Jacob.

"Yes" he answered.

"Does Bella know about this?" Charlie pressed.

I knew what he was thinking and didn't like I it one bit.

"Yes, both Bella and Edward know, and they have no problem with it". Jacobs voice turned sharp, and I knew he'd caught Charlies innuendo as well.

"And how long have this been going on?"

Charlie turned even more red. He was not Grandpa Charlie anymore, he was Chief Swan now. Interrogating his victims.

"A couple of months" Jacob answered truthfully.

"But she's a minor!" Charlie nearly yelled.

"No, I'm not" I said quietly. I was tired of being talked to as if I wasn't in the room.

"Yes you are! It's against the law, and as a policeman I can't just overloo..." Charlie turned to look at me, but then he hesitated as he took me in. He looked at me again as if he saw me in a new light. I knew he saw that I probably wasn't as young in real life as I was in his mind, or should be in his mind. This was a sensitive subject.

I could see his face fall a little as he got overwhelmed by all the things he didn't know and couldn't understand. I walked over to him and gave him a long hug.

"It's okay" I whispered "It really is okay"

He knew I was talking about Jacob and me, as well as the age-thing. I pulled back to look at his face, and it was filled with doubt and confusion. I took a step back to stand next to Jacob.

Charlie looked back and forth between us a few times before finding his voice.

"So this is...are you sure everything is...?" The vein in his forehead was still thumping slightly.

I nodded.

"Not a minor?"

I shook my head.

"Everything is fine" I assured him.

I could see his resolve crumple.

"Well...err...I was, err...I was just going to ask if you were okay, Jacob, after everything with Billy. I though maybe if you didn't want to sleep here alone tonight you could..."

He stopped short, looking wildly back and forth between us. I could practically hear his mind working, and the vein started thumping again. God, why was everyone so obsessed with where I slept?

"I'm going home soon, Charlie" I said, resigned. I didn't know if I really would, but whether I stayed the night or not was none of his business. Charlie visibly relaxed.

"Oh" he said. "Well, you know you can come over anytime you like, Jacob. And you too, of course, Reneesme."

"I know Charlie, thanks. But I'll be fine, really" Jacob said.

"Okay. Then I'll just..." he turned around to leave, but hesitated halfway. "You sure you're...?" He addressed me this time.

"We're fine Charlie" I smiled.

He sighed deeply before he left. We listened to the sound of the police cruiser as it disappeared out on the main road.

* * *

_A.N: Hope you liked it. Faster update if you review. Just sayin' ;)_


	10. Resolve

_A.N: _

_Thanks for all the wonderful reviews:) Some of you wanted to know if Nessie was wearing a shirt under the hoodie in the last chapter, and Yes, she was. Just thought I'd just make that clear in case more of you wondered about that;)_

_Anyways, back to the chapter (I've been real good I must say, giving you three chapters in four days! Wont be able to keep that up though, sorry. But enjoy:) _

_Oh, and this chapter goes to Obsessedwithtwilight for reviewing each chapter of this story more than I can count. You're spoiling me girl!_

* * *

**Resolve**

I guess I must have dozed off on Jake's couch. When I woke I didn't want to open my eyes, it felt far to good to stay right where I was. According to the sounds of the bugs swirling outside, it must be night already.

Jacob had popped out a while ago to phase and talk to the pack. I didn't know it would take this long. I'd snuggled up on the couch watching TV, waiting for him to come back, and I must have fallen asleep. He'd been gone for quite a while.

Before he left I'd called my parents again to tell them I would spend this night here as well. At first they'd objected.

"Why?" I'd asked "He shouldn't have to be alone when his father's in the hospital"

"He can come and sleep here" my dad suggested.

"Dad. Seriously. Two months ago you had no objections to leave him home alone with me for two weeks. He slept in my room almost every night and you know it. Why are you so against this now?"

My dad didn't answer immediately, but I think I knew. I dropped my voice to a whisper so Jacob wouldn't hear from the other room.

"It's not like we're _doing_ anything." I hissed, forcing back my embarrassment "why is everyone so obsessed with this? It's funny that my _parents_ are the one who's nagging about it"

He'd left out a low sigh then.

"All right. Let me talk to Jacob."

"No, you're not giving Jacob another _talk_. You've talked to him twice already and he's not stupid. And we're not doing anything. Did you notice how that became subject again? Seriously dad, his father's in the hospital!"

I was using that for everything it was worth.

My dad surrendered.

"Fine, fine. I believe you. You can stay." He accepted but didn't sound happy. "But you're coming home tomorrow, okay? There's school on Monday."

"Sure dad, thanks. Love you"

"Sleep tight"

"I will."

I smirked to myself in the darkness. I liked sleeping here. And the couch was surprisingly comfy. I wished Jacob could be here though.

As my thoughts became clearer and not so clouded with sleep, I noticed a few things were out of place. The couch _was _comfy, too comfy, and it smelled like Jacob. There was no sound from the TV but I could hear someone breathing heavily real close. And the familiar, even heartbeat I knew so well. I opened my eyes, and stared right into a wall. I was laying in Jacobs bed, the sheets halfway tucked around me. And when I turned around, he was sleeping steadily beside me. He must have carried me in here when he came back. His alarm clock showed 1 am.

I was temped to wake him. Here we were, all alone, with permission even. We had the house to ourselves. My face felt suddenly very hot in the darkness. What if I did wake him. And what if we continued what we had started this morning.

Would that be okay? Was I even ready for that? Yes, my mind said automatically. It was a big step, I tried to tell myself. A huge step. Was I really ready for us to be there? Yes, my mind said again, with no hesitation.

I felt like it should be some kind of hesitation, but there wasn't any. Wasn't it normal to hesitate and be unsure about this kind of things? I thought it was, but I couldn't find any insecurity in me. This was Jacob. How could I possibly doubt anything with him? I'd known him forever.

He would probably excuse himself over and over, though. Whenever he did something new, something we hadn't done before, something he wasn't sure whether I was okay with or not. I would have to talk to him about that. He really should stop apologizing everything when he really didn't have to.

I'd told my dad we weren't doing anything. And we weren't. Then. But if we were to, I really wouldn't feel guilty about it. Whatever we did was our business, no one else's. We weren't stupid, and we didn't need to be observed with hawk-eyes.

I looked at Jacob, but my resolve to wake him up faltered. He looked so peaceful and content, laying there beside me, snoring a little bit. I smiled. I couldn't ruin that image. He probably was tired. He'd had a stressful day. And it was late, I guess.

I crept closer to him and rested my chin on his shoulder. It could wait. He murmured something incomprehensible and subconsciously wrapped his arm around me, holding me close to him. I fell asleep like that, wrapped under his arm.

* * *

When I woke, Jacob was already awake. I was resting my head on his arm, and he was looking at me. He kept stroking my arm with his fingertips. As soon as I opened my eyes, he leaned down to kiss me good morning.

"Hi" he whispered as he pulled back. I touched his cheek. _Hi. _

"This is the second morning I wake up to find you sleeping next to me" he said. "You're going to make me spoiled."

_I don't want to leave, _I told him.

"Good"

He rested his head on top of mine, and we just lay there for a few minutes. Maybe it was about time for me to tell him. Before he did it again.

"You know, you don't have to say you're sorry all the time" I whispered.

"I do?" He sounded surprised.

"You do when you're afraid you've crossed a boundary. Don't think that you have to apologize anything "

He looked down at me. I could see he knew I was referring to what had happen the day before.

"I'm just afraid that I will. Cross a boundary. Do something you're not comfortable with"

"Well, I'll make a deal with you. If you do something I don't like, I'll make sure you know."  
"How?"

"I'll kick you in the gut"

He laughed.

"No wonder why I'm being anxious to cross boundaries"

I leaned forward and kissed him, and he cupped my cheek with his hand, holding me there. I pulled back just a few inches.

"Relax. I'm not going to kick you" I teased "There really isn't any boundaries to cross"

My eyes widened a little bit as I realized I'd just said that last thing out loud. But it was true, I guess. He looked at me for one second, before he leaned down to close the distance between us and press his lips to mine.

It was soft and it was heaven and it was filled with promise and anticipation. I was just thinking about what I'd been thinking last night and what we could do about it, when he shifted beside me. He drew me closer to him, so that I would be laying on top of him. But as he laid back he realized the bed was too small, and we ended up tumbling around on the floor.

"Ow" he exclaimed, his whole body vibrating with laughter.

He'd landed on his back with a pretty significant _thump._ I started to laugh as well when I saw his face; it was filled with confusion and amusement by his own miscalculation. I had landed on top of him, and the covers were all mixed up around us.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice shaking with silent laughter.

"I've had worse" he answered truthfully, as he moved his hands up to wrap them around my neck. Then he pulled me down towards him, and placed his lips on mine. As our laughter faded, the kiss became more sincere. His hand moved to each side of my cheek, and he buried his hands in my hair. I was just wondering where this might lead us, when I heard two pairs of footsteps approaching the house outside.

I broke free from the kiss. I knew Jacob heard it too, because he grumbled slightly with annoyance.

"Why does this always happen to us lately?" I asked him, and sat up. This was the third time in twenty-four hours we'd been interrupted right in the middle of something.

"I promise you" Jacob said as we heard a knock on the door. "one day I'm going to go caveman on you and carry you up in the mountains where no one knows where you are so that I can have you all to myself".

I giggled as he got up from the floor and went to open the door. I made the bed and made sure I looked presentable before I got out in the living room. It was Paul and Rachel. I greeted both of them.

"We didn't disturb you two, did we?" Paul smirked. With his super-wolfy-hearing he knew exactly what they'd walked into.

"Not at all" I smiled a little too brightly "We were just sitting here playing cards"

Rachel was oblivious to the whole exchange of course, and couldn't seem to get why Paul started snickering.

They had spent the night at Paul's place, after visiting Billy. They didn't stay long, Rachel just wanted to make sure Jacob remembered to pick up Billy from the hospital. I could see Rachel eyeing me a little bit; she certainly hadn't expected to see me her this early in the day. I guess she put more into me staying the night than she should, just like everyone else seemed to be doing lately.

After a few more highly indicating comments from Paul, and a snickering "Have _fun_", they left. Jacob turned to wrap his arms around me.

"I guess I should leave to pick up dad. It's nearly elleven"

"Do you want me to come or do you want to go alone?"

He kissed my forehead.

"Of course I want you to come. But I think this time maybe I should go alone. Get to talk to him a little bit"

I smiled "Of course"

"There's going to be a bonfire tomorrow night. You'll come, right?" He sounded suddenly worried.

I shuddered as I remembered the last time I'd said no to a bonfire. It had been the night I was attached in Port Angeles.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world"

* * *

"Mom, dad, I' leaving now" I called out to the empty living room.

I went into the hallway, and sat down on my knees to look through the chest of drawers there. In less than two seconds both of my parents were standing beside me, watching me stumble around on the floor.

"What are you doing, Nessie?" my mom asked.

"I'm looking for my raincoat. Alice said it was going to rain tonight."

It was Monday night, and I was already late. I had been up at the main house saying goodbye to Alice and Jasper before they returned to college. I was supposed to meet Jacob in La Push five minutes ago to go with him to the bonfire. And with my slow pace, I was going to be a lot more late than five minutes.

A purple raincoat appeared in the corner of my eye and I looked up to see mom holding it towards me.

"I have it here, Nessie."

I grabbed it and grumbled a little at my own sluggishness. I saw my dad fight a smile as he listened to my thoughts. I stood up and pulled the raincoat on, taking a quick look at myself in the mirror to find out I looked dreadful. My hair was already messy from running from the main house, and my facial expression was annoyed.

"You look beautiful, honey" dad leaned down to stroke my hair. "Have a good time tonight and don't be too late"

_I wont, _thought quickly. "Bye" I blurted out to both of them before I hurried out the door. I hated to be late. It made me feel even more slow.

I ran through the forest as fast as I could. It took a while before I noticed that I was not alone.


	11. Lock Ness

_A.N: Hello beautiful people!_

_This chapter goes to prettynicole46 for in One day reviewing every freakin' chapter I've ever written and for sending me a wonderful PM:)_

* * *

**Lock Ness**

* * *

"_Bye" I blurted out to both of them before I hurried out the door. I hated to be late. It made me feel even more slow. _

_I ran through the forest as fast as I could. It took a while before I noticed that I was not alone. _

* * *

I heard a movement behind me. My head snapped up but I couldn't see anyone. Yet, I was sure there was someone there. I couldn't hear any other sound than my own running steps and my own fluttering heartbeat.

I had two choices, either keep running or stop. Since I wasn't the fastest runner, I took a chance and stopped short.

My sudden move had been totally unexpected to whoever it was. I felt something rush past me a few meters away. When I didn't make a sound myself, I could clearly hear the thudding sound of paws and the heavy heartbeat.

Now the wind was in my advantage, and brought me the smell of the person in front of me. I could recognize that smell anywhere. I smirked. So he wanted to play a game. I could do that too.

I kept standing silent as a shadow. The thudding sound of paws in front of me stopped short as well, and I could practically hear his confusion. He probably thought I didn't know who it was. He must think I was afraid. Hah.

I almost snorted out loud, but managed to not make a sound. I couldn't see him, but I knew roughly where he was standing. I heard a little noise, probably when he turned around to try catch a glimpse of me through the trees.

Then I leaped.

I saw a glimpse of reddish fur in front of me. I heard him let out a little bark of surprise and amusement as he realized what I was doing. He would have been so much faster than me had I not caught him by surprise. But I did, and so I caught him easily. Just when he had gotten over the surprise and started running, I landed on his back, my arms around his neck.

_Hi Jake_, I thought casually. He barked another laugh as he realized I had tricked him.

_You know, you shouldn't underestimate me just because you're faster_, I teased.

He turned his head halfway to grin at me, and then he lunged himself forward in the direction of La Push.

* * *

"There they are!"

Embry stretched his neck to get a better look at us as we walked up to the beach towards the bonfire. Jacob had phased back to human form now.

Everyone was there. Both of the packs, and all of the girlfriends and imprintees. A few of the elders were there as well, even Billy. I waved at him, glad to see him up and going, and he smiled back from his place on the other side of the fire.

"Are you guys late, or what?" Paul teased, sending us a mischievous grin, his voice filled with innuendos. He just couldn't help it, could he?

"My fault." I raised my hand "I'm born slow"

"Hey, Nessie!"

Seth called my name waving for me to join him. I let go of Jacobs hand and slumped down by his side. He gave me a hug as I sat down. It had been forever since the last time I saw him. Seth was the wolf I knew best and the wolf who knew me best as well, I guess, except Jacob of course.

"How are you, I haven't seen you in ages!" He was grinning from ear to ear.

"I know, there's been a lot going on" I said. " Not that I've seen you much around either. Are Jake making you run double patrols or what?"

Seth laughed and shoved a soda into my hand. I looked over at Jacob and found he was looking at me. I patted the space beside me for him to join us, and he did.

We stayed for a couple of hours. Everyone ate, drank and seemed to enjoy themselves. I loved bonfires. The mood was open and friendly, and some of the guys could be pretty hilarious from time to time.

Billy enjoyed himself as well, and it made me happy. It was hard to believe something was wrong with him, that he'd been staying at a hospital only days before.

As it started to get darker, Jacob left to drive Billy home. I was still sitting beside Seth, looking after Jacob and his father. Jacob helped Billy into the car and got into the drivers seat. I waited until they were out of earshot.

"How's he doing, really? Jacob, I mean"

Seth followed my gaze to where their car had just disappeared.

"Do you mean because of Billy and all?"

I just nodded. Jacob seemed fine, really. But then he always seemed fine, even when he was all but. He always looked at the bright side of things and always kept his good spirits up. Just like his dad. But I didn't know how he really felt about it. I couldn't see inside his head.

Seth could.

"He's..." Seth paused, looking for the right word. "He's a little bit of both"

"Both what?"

"There's the sad part, the worry for his father, and then there's the extreme happiness he feels around you" Seth turned to smile at me. "He sort of shifts between the two these days. It's kind of confusing to be around when he does that actually."

"How so?"

"Well, his mood affects the others. Everybody affects everybody. If someone is really down, you most likely wont go around and be Mr. Happy Spirits yourself."

"But he's not really down, is he?" I asked terrified. He didn't seem really down.

"No, no. It was just an example. He's worried now and then, that's all. But then suddenly he starts thinking about you and he's the complete opposite. It's confusing when he does that, but I guess it's better than if he was worried all the time."

Seth sent me a smile, but I couldn't make myself smile back. I was worried for Jacob. I didn't want him to go around feeling worried. Billy was fine now, right?

"Hey. He's not, like, troubled." Seth tried to catch my eyes. "He's just been a little worried. You knew that. "

"I guess."

Seth poked me playfully in the side with his elbow.

"Cheer up. He's _fine. _It's Jacob we're talking about here. How are you two doing by the way?"

My head snapped up then, and his smile was a little bit too innocent.

"You've been talking to Paul, haven't you?"

"You're quick"

I groaned. "Of course he would spread the word"  
Seth's eyes widened, and a very guy-ish grin threatened to spread on his face. "So it's true?"

I narrowed my eyes. "What exactly did he say to you?"  
The innocent look was back.

"He just...said that he had...well, you know, walked in on you."

I snorted.

"Not likely, Seth. You should know better than listen to Paul."

His eyes turned back to their normal size, and he laughed.

"That's what I thought. I've heard stories like that from him a little bit too often" he paused, and the guy-ish grin crept back. "So you're sure you two haven't...?"

I hit his arm with the empty soda-bottle.  
"No, we haven't! And that's none of your business anyway. Why is everyone so obsessed about that?"

Seth laughed.

"I know, I know, I'm just teasing."

My eyes narrowed again.

"You know?"

"Well..." In horror I watched his face turn a little red. "We pretty much know stuff like that. There's not much room for secrets in a pack. And not even Jacob would have enough self control to hide his thoughts if you guys had... you know. So it's really not a secret that you two haven't"

It was my turn to blush and I hit his arm with the soda bottle again just because I felt like it. He laughed and elbowed me in the ribs again.

"Chill, Nessie. No big deal"

"Humph."

* * *

After a little while, Jake returned to the beach. He walked over to me, but didn't bother to sit down.

"Wanna take a walk?"

He smiled down towards me, his hand outstretched. I grabbed it, and he pulled me up on my feet. We said bye to Seth, and started to walk down the beach away from the bonfire.

As we walked past Paul I lightly threw my empty soda bottle at him. It hit him in the head. He whirled around to see who it was, and his eyes landed on Jared who was sitting behind him. I almost felt sorry for Jared when Paul lunged himself over him, but then Jacob laughed in my ear and pulled my arm, and I forgot all about it.

We walked down the beach holding hands, and reached the place where the sand ended and the rocks began. We started to climb some of the rocks, and soon we couldn't see the bonfire anymore. I sat down on a rock, with the water edge less than a meter under us. The slight wind was making the waves foam white. Jacob sat down beside me.

"It's going to rain soon" he announced.

"I know" I smiled "Why do you think I'm wearing a raincoat?"

He wrapped his arm around me.

"Paul has been spreading rumors" I noted.

"I know" he chuckled " I'll get him back when he least expects it"

We didn't speak for a while, we just sat like that for a few minutes. It felt good to just _be._

"Huh" Jacob said suddenly, and looked up at the sky.

"What?"

I looked at him. And then I looked up. And then I looked back at him again.

"What?" I said again. He kept looking up. So I looked up as well. And then the sky fell down.

I was soaked in less than a minute.

"I told you it was going to rain" he grinned down at me, water dripping from his hair as the rain kept pouring down on us. "Does the raincoat help?"

"I don't think I could get any wetter if I wanted to" I noted dryly.

"Really?"

His tone sounded challenging. I narrowed my eyes, trying to interpret his tone. I didn't make it that far though. The next second he'd gotten up on his feet, wiped me up from the ground and thrown me over his right shoulder.

"I'm willing to take you up on that" he continued.

And before I knew what was happening he had grabbed my waist and literary pushed me out into the dark water. Now, that I didn't expect. As I got my head back over the surface, I saw him standing over me on the rocks laughing his butt off. I felt my clothes float around me in the dark water, and my hair clung to my face. I was definitely soaked now.

"Jake!" I exclaimed loudly. He crouched down. I could reach him if I stretched up. He was so going to pay for this.

"Come on, help me up!" I demanded, making my voice sound whiny on purpose.

He chuckled.

"Just thought I'd just prove my point. It turned out you could get wetter"

He offered his hand for me, so that he could help me up.

Oh, he should never have done that.

I grabbed his hand tightly and pulled with all my strength. A surprised sound escaped his lips before he fell down and made the water splash violently as he hit the surface. When his face came up from the water, he sent me a daring look, but I could see he was straining to keep from laughing.

"I told you you shouldn't underestimate me" I said, grinning. "You don't mess with the Lock Ness monster."

He couldn't hold his laughter back any longer then, and his eyes were gleaming as he looked at me. I took him in. He was magnificent. He didn't wear a shirt, as usual, and I could see every defined muscle on his upper body. His hair was dripping , water pooling down his face. His arms were glistening with water in the dim light. While for myself, I felt like a soaked puppy.

Funny how _I _was the one ending up looking like a soaked animal.

I closed my eyes and shook my head. When I opened them, he was gone. I looked around, but then felt a hand wrap around my leg and pull me under. Oh crap. After a whole lot of splashing and tumbling around I felt his hands wrap around my waist, and we both broke the surface. He smiled to me and held me close to him, as if I couldn't swim or something. I didn't really mind. He lovingly wiped the hair away from my face.

"Fine" I said. "_Now_ I'm soaked. But so are you"

I reached up in his arms and brought my lips to his. I felt his grip tighten around me as his lips crashed into mine as well. I instantly forgot everything. All I could think about was him and how his lips felt against mine. One of his hands sneaked up from around my waist to skim along my arm and shoulder before cradling the back of my head. He pulled me closer, deepening the kiss, making my toes curl.

Of course, just then a wave decided to flush down both of us, making me realize where we were.

"Let's get up" I said. "before Paul finds us here and spread the word we're having sex in the water"

Jacob snorted and started moving us in the direction of the rocks.

We ran home, since any car really would have been ruined if we tried to sit in it now. Jacob followed me to the door like a real gentleman, kissing me tenderly before he left.

My dad eyed me when I walked in the door, taking in my wet clothes. But when I showed him an image of me pulling Jacob down in the water, with an underlining that clearly said _revenge, _he burst out laughing.

Well, as long as I kept my thoughts on that and not on the making-out session that had happened later, I would be fine. Dad stopped laughing abruptly. I'd accidentally slipped some images I knew he'd rather not see, and he sent me a dissatisfied look. _Ops. Sorry dad_. I filled my head with thoughts of ice-cream and butterflies while I hurried in to the bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

_A.N: See? No mean cliffies this time;) Many of you guessed that it was Jacob next to her in the woods, and some of you thought it might be some crazy vamp. Don't worry, I wont add any crazy vamps. _

_Yet. _

_Mohahaha. _


	12. Elation and fur

**Elation and fur**

* * *

When I finished school the next day I went straight over to La Push. The day had been quite boring so far; locked up in a classroom when the sun was shining brightly outside, for once. I found Jacob in his garage, sprawled out on the floor under his car. I lay down beside him on my stomach on the dirty garage floor. It wasn't like Alice would mind. She practically renewed the content of my closet every week, seldom letting me wear the same twice.

"You've finished school already?" Jacob lifted his head and peeked up at me. "I didn't expect you to be home yet or I'd be on my way over." I could see a smile spread on his face as his eyes met mine.

"I went straight here from school" I told him, and his smile widened into a grin.

"Just let me finish up, I'm nearly done..." he turned his attention back to the chassis of the car he was working on.

"Take your time" I pushed myself up from the floor. Despite growing up with both Jacob and Rosalie, fixing cars was never really my thing. I liked driving them, not laying under them.

I jokingly poked his foot with my toe, and walked past him out of the garage and towards the house. Billy was sitting on the front porch, enjoying the shadow.

"Hi" I greeted him and jumped up to sit on the banister.

"Good to see you, Nessie. Enjoying the sun?"

"Very" I smiled. "Don't you?"

"Old men prefer shadow" he joked. Or at least I think he was joking. "Are you two staying for dinner?"

"Sure we can" I smiled "We can make dinner. You don't have any dinner-plans do you?"

Billy laughed. " The closest I come to having a dinner plan is eating fish with your grandfather during a game tomorrow night"

"Then Jacob and I will make dinner today"

"Are you making appointments for me?"

Jacob stepped up on the porch beside me, wiping his fingers off on a dirty rag.

"Only dinner-appointments"

"What dinner-appointments?" he looked suspicious.

"Me-telling-you-what-to-do-and-then-you-do-it appointments" I grabbed his hand and dragged him with me inside towards the kitchen. I heard him groan loudly in protest, Billy's laughter trailing behind us. He never was much of a cook, Jacob. He knew this would involve a serious amount vegetable-cutting on his behalf, something he found very boring. But he ate three quarters of the food anyway, so I didn't really feel sorry for him.

We ate dinner with Billy, and then Jake and I washed the dishes. As Billy settled inside in front of the TV, Jake and I went out on the front porch. We sat down on the bottom stairs, just as a black cat silently stole past us. It started to rub against my leg, and I reached down to pat it.

"I wanted to have a cat when I was little" I remembered suddenly.

"You did?" Jacob seemed surprised. "You never told me about it"

Of course, he wound never forget anything I wanted.

"Oh, it was just a really brief thing, it didn't last for more than a day. I was visiting Claire, I think, and we played with her neighbor's cat. You know, made it run after toys, brushed it, cuddled with it..."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?"

I laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, is it working?"

"A little. Why would you need a cat for? Am I not furry enough?"

"No, it was just the feeling of... I dunno, someone to brush and bring milk to, or something. You know?"

"I'll let you pass me the milk from now on if you get a kick out of that"

I reached my tongue out to him. Not very mature, I know, but neither was he, so...

"Or you could, throw me a stick or something. Maybe I'll get it"

To prove my point, I leaned down, reaching for a small piece of wood on the ground in front of the stairs. I threw it into the forest and it disappeared out of sight. Then I turned to look at him expectantly. He just laughed.  
"See" I pointed out "S'not the same. "

"Alright then" he smiled, wrapping his arm around me. " I get your point".

He leaned down to kiss me, and I instantly forgot all about the cat.

* * *

I clung to his back as he ran through the green forest. The only sound was the muted thudding from his paws. I wrapped my arms more tightly around his furry neck. It was more chilly here, under the trees where the setting sun couldn't reach us. We were headed home to the cottage. I'd called my parents a while back, but they hadn't answered. Weird. They _always_ answered the phone.

When we reached home, they weren't there. No worries though, there was a note on the counter in my dads calligraphic handwriting, telling me they were out on a hunting trip. "_Wont be long_" it finished, signed dad. So. We were alone then.

Jacob had been standing silently behind me, reading over my shoulder. I was about to turn around to face him when he suddenly wiped me off my feet and carried me into my bedroom. I was about to ask him what he was doing when he dropped me down on the bed and the next second he was kissing me feverishly. Suddenly I didn't need to ask.

His body was pressed close to mine and he was resting his weight on both of his arms. He kissed me like he had rarely done before, as if he just couldn't hold back any longer. I drew my fingers through his hair and everything was forgotten. My room, the house, my parents. I filled my lungs with his scent and couldn't think of anything else.

I could feel his fingertips at the hem of my shirt, and they slipped under it to travel up my back. His heart was thundering in my ears, my was fluttering in his. He traced my lips with his, and his hands traveled all the way up to my shoulder blades. Then I reached up to deepen the kiss, and it was if I'd turned on a switch.

He was everywhere. And I guess so was I. I closed my eyes and all coherent thoughts disappeared. The word around us stopped existing all together. It was as if we were inside a bubble, a bubble of bliss. My t-shirt had been pushed aside and his hands were roaming. He didn't apologize this time, thank god. The only sound was the thundering from his heart, the only things existing was the tingling on my skin under his fingers.

The bubble broke when his lips broke contact with mine.

"What are we doing?"

His voice was hoarse, and his hot breath blew over my face. I just looked at him.

"Are you sure about this?" he said. His breath was ragged.

_Yes_, I thought, my hands on his neck.

I could see several emotions cross his face, and he hesitated.

"Maybe this is not the place though". He seemed to regret he'd ever said the words, but he said them, nonetheless.

I remembered the words on my parents note. "_Wont be long"_. They could be back any second. Literary. I sighed. He was probably right. I guess this wasn't the place.

I sat up next to him and put my clothes back on their proper place. He put a hand on my face and yanked my lips to his, a manner completely opposite of what he'd just said. But the he broke away after just a few seconds.

"Maybe I should get going"

"You're leaving?" I couldn't help keeping the slight confusion and hurt from my voice. He put a hand on each of my cheeks and leaned forward until his forehead was touching mine.

"I don't want to leave, believe me. That's maybe the last thing I want right now. But I'm not ready for your father to kill me right yet, and if he shows up now I'm afraid he will."

I looked at him in confusion, and he continued.

"If your father was to read my thoughts right now, I'm not sure he would like what he saw"

Oh. I blushed. Jacob got up from the bed, and I stood up next to him. He grabbed my hand in his, and I followed him to the front door. He turned around to face me, his look slightly regretful and annoyed for making himself leave.

"I have some patrols to run tonight anyway, so I guess I should get going"

"Okay". I reached up on my toes to kiss him. "See you after school tomorrow?" Maybe we could be alone then.

"Deal" he said, his voice filled with emotion.

He left, turning around several times just to look at me and smile before he disappeared behind the trees.

I tried to watch TV. It didn't work. I tried to watch a movie too, but I couldn't stop thinking about what had just passed between us. Read a book. Na-ah. Occasionally I would blush a little bit to myself . I realized there really wasn't a way to distract my thought from what had just happened, so I went to bed early hoping I'd be asleep when my dad returned.

* * *

Next day it was Wednesday, and it was a cloudy one. It couldn't keep the grin of my face though. School was boring, but I was visibly ticking with elation. I was going to La Push today. And Billy would be over at grandpa Charlies watching a game. And me and Jake would be alone.

"Hi mom, dad" I greeted them as I came home after school to find them sitting in the living room. I had planned to go straight to La Push, I was just dropping off my schoolbag here first.

"Hi Reneesme. You going to see Jacob?" My mom didn't have to be a mind-reader to interpret the urgency in my steps.

"Yep" I answered her from inside my room. When I went back into the living room, they were both standing in the doorway, ready to leave as well. "You're leaving?"

"We're just headed back to the main house" my mom said, leaning down to kiss my forehead. " We were just waiting for you to get home, if maybe you'd wanted to join us. But have fun and don't be home too late"

My dad sent me a little amused but at the same time strict look. "And behave yourself"

I swallowed, and his eyes narrowed. I tried to pretend I didn't notice, and tried to push every Jacob-y thought out of my head. Mom chuckled. Dad didn't.

"Maybe I'll drop by later" I said quickly, trying to get off the hook.

My dad struggled to keep himself from smiling as they said goodbye and left. At least he wasn't mad then. I guess he'd gotten used to my slightly guilty crazy-in-love thoughts by now.

Lucky I was mostly good at controlling them.

I grabbed my cellphone from the table, but on a pair and shoes and was ready to leave just when my cellphone purred. I looked at the number. It was Alice.

"Hey Alice!" I said happily. "What's up?"  
"Nessie" she said, her voice serious. I got instantly alert. "Is Jacob there with you?"

"No, he's not here. What's wrong?"

"Where is he?" she said, not answering my question.

"I don't know, home I guess? Why?" My voice grew more and more alarmed. "What's wrong?"

"You need to call him right away and tell him to go the hospital. And to hurry."

"The hospital? Alice, what are you talking about?"

"Billy"

She didn't need to say more. In that one word I understood everything.

* * *

_A.N: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews:)_


	13. Jacob

_A.N: _

_Hi guys:) Here's a new chapter for you. Big thank you to all who has added me to favs and alerts, and thank you for all the wonderful reviews._

_I know some of you don't like my cliffies, but honestly I don't plan them to come, they just do! Some places there's just no other way to end the chapter. But I don't think there's going to be too many cliffhangers ahead now, so you can relax:)_

_Back to the chapter:_

* * *

**Jacob**

* * *

_I grabbed my cellphone from the table, but on a pair and shoes and was ready to leave just when my cellphone purred. I looked at the number. It was Alice. _

"_Hey Alice!" I said happily. "What's up?"  
"Nessie" she said, her voice serious. I got instantly alert. "Is Jacob there with you?"_

"_No, he's not here. What's wrong?"_

"_Where is he?" she said, not answering my question._

"_I don't know, home I guess? Why?" My voice grew more and more alarmed. "What's wrong?"_

"_You need to call him right away and tell him to go the hospital. And to hurry."_

"_The hospital? Alice, what are you talking about?"_

"_Billy" _

_She didn't need to say more. In that one word I understood everything. _

* * *

I hung up, immediately dialing Jacobs number. Billy was at the hospital again. Alice didn't have to explain. There was only one reason why she would call me about this. It meant something was different this time, different from last time he was there. It meant his future was different. She'd said Jacob needed to hurry. My stomach clenched.

"Nessie"

Jacob had picked up, and his voice was strained. He knew. My stomach clenched some more.

"Jacob, where are you?" I said, my words all blurred together. I realized my voice was hoarse.

"Are you okay?" His tone changed and became suddenly worried as he noticed the urgency in my voice. "Where are you?"

God, he though something was wrong with _me. _

"I'm fine. Jacob, you need to go to the hospital"

"Wha...? I was just on my way there now. Charlie called, it's dad again. But how do you...?"

"Alice" I explained, but I immediately wished I didn't.

The other end of the phone went silent. All I could hear was his breath against the receiver as he processed my words. I knew he was thinking the same thing I had a moment ago; Alice wouldn't have called about this unless it was no other way. Unless it was final.

The phone went dead. He'd hung up. Slowly I removed the phone from my ear and just stood there, staring at it in my hands. Jacob hadn't known how serious this was before I called. He had know that something was wrong, but he hadn't known the extent of this. Neither had Charlie, apparently. They had thought Billy would recover, like before. But if that was the case, Alice wouldn't have called. She'd even told Jacob to hurry. He'd phased now, I just knew it.

I burst out the door, thankfully bringing the phone. I ran. It would be quicker than going to the main house to get a car. While running I somehow managed to dial Alice's number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Will he be there in time?" I breathed.

She didn't answer immediately, and I guess she was checking for a blind spot to wipe out her image of Billy.

"Yes" she whispered finally. "He'll make it"

"Thank you" I said, before I hung up again, focused on getting there fast enough.

I ran through the forest in the direction of the hospital. My mind was a mess, thoughts tumbling around. I thought about Billy. It was surreal that I had been sitting in his kitchen eating dinner in less than twenty four hours ago, listening to his story about a fishing-trip with Charlie. I felt so sorry for Jacob. It really, physically, hurt. I couldn't even imagine how this would be for him. I'd never lost someone dear to me. To loose a parent... Jacob had lost his mother already.

Several times I was on the edge of crying but I stopped myself. There was no time for that now. I needed to get there, to get to him, to be there for him. If it happened. When it happened. I pressed myself further, running as fast as my half-human body was capable of running. The threatening dark clouds that hung on the sky above me seemed suddenly deadly ironic.

I reached the open area nearby the hospital, and had to slow down to run human pace. Just in case someone was watching. It was a nightmare, having to slow down. How did normal humans cope with running like this? I reached the parking lot, but couldn't see the the Rabbit anywhere. He had been running too, then, as I suspected.

At the entrance door, I caught his scent. He'd been here just now. When I got inside I didn't bother to ask for help, I just followed his scent throughout the hospital. Up two stairs, down a white hallway, and then down another one. Everything was so white and sterile. People were buzzing around me everywhere, but I didn't take notice of them.

I fumbled forward, half running half walking. As I reached the white windowless door that swallowed his scent, I paused. It was closed. Was Billy in there? Was Jacob? Should I enter? I heard a soft sobbing coming from inside. It sounded feminine, and was not what I had been expecting. I took a hesitant step towards the door.

"Nessie"

I spun around, and was surprised to see Paul. His face was grave, quite uncharacteristic, and my suspicions were confirmed.

"Is he..?" He knew I meant Billy.

Paul just nodded, and I felt my heart fall in my chest like a stone.

"He just past away. Coronary" Paul elaborated. "I need to go back inside, Rachel is in there."

I realized who the soft sobs came from. Paul walked past me, and was about to open the door. I felt numb. I had to blink a few times to regain my focus, and forced myself to stay in the present.

"Is Jacob...?" I managed to squeeze out. Paul paused, and his face grew worried.

"No. He left, just now. You should find him. I have to stay here, Rachel..."

As soon as he said Rachel's name, he seemed he forgot he was talking to me. He walked inside the room, and closed the door behind him.

Jacob. Had. Left. I felt cold, for once. Where? Hadn't I just followed his scent up here? He must have gone back the same way he entered. He must have left right before I arrived. I needed to find him. He must be beside himself. I woke from the numbness, and with one last look at the firmly closed door in front of me I started to run down the white corridors. I fumbled back down the hallways, cursing my sluggishness and slow pace.

I wished Carlisle was still working here.

I burst through the entrance door. It was raining now, but Jacobs scent was still distinct. I followed it as best as I could. It led me away from the parking lot, back into the forest behind the hospital. If he was running wolf I wouldn't have a chance to catch up with him. As I thought about it, he most likely would have phased by now. He'd told me once it was easier to feel pain as a wolf than as a human. With so many raging emotions inside, he wouldn't have managed to keep them in control. Not even my Jacob. But I followed him anyway. What else could I do?

His scent lead me further and further inside the forest, in the opposite direction of La Push. The phone called. It was my dad. He had probably spoken to Alice. I turned it off. Not now. My clothes had gotten all wet from the rain, but I didn't even notice. My phone would probably get ruined. Didn't care. I just followed his scent. I had to find him. I just had to.

I saw him then, a short distance ahead. He had slumped down on the ground, against the root of a tree. He was sitting hunched forward, his elbows folded over his knees and head slung forward looking down. His hair was wet with rain as well as the rest of him, and raindrops were pooling down his face and neck. He was rocking slightly back and forth. He didn't look at me, he was staring at the ground in front of him and he looked just like I felt. Numb. Paralyzed. I carefully went over to him.

"Jacob?"

He closed his eyes, but other that that did not make a sign he'd heard me. I had no idea what to say, but I couldn't just stand there. I knelt down on my knees close beside him. I wrapped both my arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly. He didn't react, but he didn't push me away either.

I sat like that, arms around him, hugging him for a long time. Then, suddenly his body seemed to wake up, and his shoulders started to shake. He leaned his head against my neck and I could feel hot tears land on my collarbone. We sat like this for a long time, while he cried silently. He kept his face hidden against my neck, and I held him as close as I could.

I didn't know what to say, because nothing I had to say could help him right now. So I hugged him to me instead, and he rested his forehead against my collarbone. I could separate the cold raindrops from his hot tears. For the first time in my life, I felt grief. Both Jacob's and my own. I had never felt that before, not like this. Not for the loss of someone else, the loss of a life.

I don't know how long we sat like this. The noises from the streets were muffled by the forest, and belonged to a different world, a different time. It grew darker around us, and the rain kept pouring steadily. We were both soaked, but it didn't matter. I waited until his muted sobs stopped, and his shoulders stopped shaking. His hot tears did no longer fall against my neck. I bowed my head to rest it against his ear. It was wet with rain, just like everything else. Carefully I put my hand on his cheek, and tilted his head upwards so that I could look at him.

He let me do it. His eyes were red-rimmed and his cheeks were wet both with rain and tears. He met my gaze, and we stared at each other for a moment. He looked exhausted, and his eyes were all empty, lifeless, like if he'd given up. Not before he lifted his hand to wipe away something wet under my eye, I realized he had not been the only one crying.

I reached out and kissed his forehead tenderly. Then I laid my cheek next to his and whispered "Come. Let's go back to the cottage". I didn't know if he would like to go home to La Push just now – maybe that would make it worse being surrounded by memories of his father. He nodded. I loosened my arms from his neck only to grip his hand firmly. I stood up, and dragged him up on his feet as well. Then I wrapped my arm tightly around his waist. He put his arm over my shoulder, and we started to walk through the forest in the direction of our little cottage.

We didn't speak. I didn't know what to say to him that either he didn't know on beforehand or was just trivial chatter, so I let it be. I had the feeling he liked it best like that right now. Words weren't necessary. He would talk when he felt like it.

We were walking human pace, so it took a while before we reached home. Not that it mattered, we weren't in a hurry. And he must be exhausted. I knew he hadn't slept last night; he'd been running patrols. And now this. Poor thing. As we approached the house, my parents came outside. My dad must have heard us arrive, and I guess it would be fairly easy to him to see what had happened. My mom went over to Jacob and hugged him immediately, whispering how sorry she was. My dad did the same. He must have told her as they heard us approach. My dad's face was pained, I guess after listening to Jacob's thoughts. It made me wince.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered, looking at Jacob.

Jacob seemed paralyzed, still numb. He didn't answer, he just kept staring at the ground in front of him. My dad gave me a long hug before he kissed my forehead.

"Bella are going home to Charlie, give him some support " he whispered. "I'll go back to the main house, leave you two alone. " I understood. It would give Jacob the privacy to grief alone in his own mind, and at the same time spare my father for Jacob's great sorrow and loss. I knew Jacob wouldn't want someone to listen in on a time like this.

My dad gave a tiny nod before he kissed my forehead. My mother did the same before she hugged Jacob again. And then they left. I looked over at Jacob. He was still standing there, staring numbly at the ground in front of him. I grabbed his hand and led him inside. He didn't object .

I led him to my bedroom, and found a pair of dry sweatpants that I normally used to sleep in. We both needed to get out of our soaked clothes. Jacob was standing silently beside me, following my every move. I handed him the sweats, and found some dry clothes for myself. I went into the bathroom to change, and when I came back he had as well. He was sitting on my bed, looking down at his hands resting in his lap.

I sat down beside him and wrapped my arms around him. Then I made him lay down on the bed beside me, wrapping the covers over us both. I crept close to him, and he put his arm around me as well.

"I'm so sorry, Jacob" I whispered.

He didn't answer, but leaned his cheek down to rest against my forehead. I could feel him tremble slightly. I felt something hot drop against my forehead, and held him even closer.

* * *

It took a long time before he finally fell asleep, and even longer before I did. When I woke next morning, he was already awake. He was laying on his back with one arm resting under my head, looking up at the ceiling.

"Hi" I whispered.

He turned to look at me.

"Hi" he said quietly

Then he unexpectedly leaned down and kissed me. It wasn't a lustful kiss, but it wasn't a sweet one either. His arm around my shoulder tightened, bringing me closer. When he broke away, he leaned back to look at me. He seemed thoughtful. His face was like a sad mask. I wondered how long he'd been awake.

"I have to call Rachel" he said. His voice was hoarse.

I just nodded. I guess they had to talk about what was going to happen next. He didn't look very happy about having to call her, though.

"Do you want me to call her for you?"

He sighed and shook his head, but I could see the flash of hope and relief in his eyes. That was all I needed. I reached out for the phone laying on the bedside table, and dialed her number. It was Paul who answered.

"Hi" I said " it's Nessie"

I could hear some muted noises and the closing of a door, and realized he had moved to talk privately away from Rachel.

"She's asleep" he explained. Right. I had forgot it was still early.

"Where are you?"He wouldn't have taken her home to Billy's, would he?

"We're at my place"

"Oh." I said. Of course. "Have you called Rebecca?" It didn't hit me before now that Jacob's other sister, Rebecca, should be here as well. She was still living with her husband in Hawaii, and I'd only met her a few times. Not more than I could count on one hand.

"Charlie called her yesterday" Paul said "She'll be on her way today, or as soon as she can". I guess it took a while to travel all the way from Hawaii.

"Okay" I said. Then I paused, and so did Paul. I had a feeling we understood each other; we were both outsiders to a very personal grief for the loss of a father.

"So, what now?" I asked, fumbling, sending Jacob a sideways look. He was studying me intently. It was silent while Paul though about what to say.

"We should meet." he said finally. "They have to go to the hospital and sort things out. And also maybe we should go to Billy's house. Rachel doesn't want to, but I think the sooner the better. It will only make it more difficult if we wait. Maybe we should go there first"

I looked over at Jacob again, but he didn't meet my gaze this time. He was looking down at his hands. I removed the phone from my ear.

"Is that okay?" I asked him. He drew a deep breath and then he nodded. I waited until he met my eyes before I put the phone back to my ear.

"That's fine" I said. "Should we do it now?"

"Okay. We'll meet you there"

And then he hung up.

* * *

_A.N: Don't shoot me, please. But I had planned for this to happen all since I started writing the story, so it did, even if you don't like it. Sorry! But I will make them smile and snuggle again, promise:) Please consider leaving a review, it means a lot to me._

_And I'll make you a deal. A few people has been asking me questions about what will happen in the story, but I can't tell you everything that's going to happen can I? But all right. If there's something you're burning to know, you can leave one question in your review(you only get one question each!) and I'll answer it. Can't promise to answer everything, but I'll give you something. Deal? And questions like "What's going to happen?"...No, I wont answer those;)_


	14. Conversations

**Conversations**

* * *

"_Maybe we should go to Billy's house. Rachel doesn't want to, but I think the sooner the better. It will only make it more difficult if we wait. Maybe we should go there first"_

_I looked over at Jacob again, but he didn't meet my gaze this time. He was looking down at his hands. I removed the phone from my ear. _

"_Is that okay?" I asked him. He drew a deep breath and then he nodded. I waited until he looked at me again, before I put the phone back to my ear. _

"_That's fine" I said. "Should we do it now?"_

"_Okay. We'll meet you there"_

_And then he hung up._

* * *

We walked through the forest in the direction of La Push. I had asked Jacob if he wanted to phase, but he didn't.

"I phased last night, but the others were there so I phased back" he said.

He meant the others as in the pack, and I understood. I had wondered why he hadn't phased when I found him outside the hospital last night, and the truth was he had. But the other guys (and girl) had been phased as well, so he'd changed back to his human shape. I guess he wanted to have his mind to himself right now. I suddenly got even more grateful to my dad for leaving us alone last night.

This was so surreal. Yesterday I had been running through the woods, eager to go to La Push and meet Jacob. My mind had been filled with thoughts of him, of being alone with him, of what could happen. I'd been elated and excited. And the day before, we'd even eaten dinner with Billy. Surreal.

As we reached La Push, Jacob subconsciously slowed down. When the little red house came into view behind the trees, he almost slowed to a halt. I knew he was fearing this. I knew he was worried what memories would be evoked when we entered. I grabbed his hand, and led him forward.

"Come on" I said. "The sooner we get it over with the better"

Somehow, as if he found my words encouraging, he followed. We reached the front of the house at the same time Paul's car appeared in the driveway. He parked the car, and both him and Rachel got out. Her eyes were puffy and red. I greeted them, and Rachel got over to halfheartedly give Jacob a one-arm hug before she leaned back and rested her head against Paul's chest.

"Let's go inside" she said. Even though her voice was shaky, it was still firm with determination.

Jacob tightened his grip on my hand as we followed them inside.

Paul and I hesitated a little bit by the door as we entered the living room. The room was overly quiet, except the normal ticking from the clock on the mantelpiece. I eyed Jacobs face. It was like set in stone. Rachel walked ahead of us and looked around to take in the living room surroundings. I could see her bottom lip tremble as she touched the chair where her father normally liked to sit. I could see Paul inch forward, as if wanting to go to her, but something held him back.

Jacob let go of my hand, and stepped forward. He was looking away from me, I couldn't see his face. A sudden sob escaped Rachel and broke the silence in the room. Paul hurried over to her. Jacob still stood with his back to me. I could see him pick up something from the mantlepiece; it looked like a wooden carving. I don't know if he did it out of sentimentality or if was a complete random act. Rachel was crying steadily now, and her sobbing became louder and louder. Jacob fumbled with the wooden sculpture, turning it around in his hands.

"Oh, dad" Rachel said, her voice cracking.

"Well, he's not here, is he?" Jacob snapped, startling all of us. His voice was sharp as it cut through the silent, dull atmosphere. He turned around suddenly, and I could see his face was filled with anger. The next second he'd crossed the room and was on his way out. He didn't look at me. As he reached the door he turned around and threw the wooden carving forcefully across the room. It made a loud, cracking sound as it hit a glass of water standing on the table, and both the carving and the water-glass broke. He hit his fist in the door frame as he left, and then slammed the front door after him. Two pictures fell down from the wall, the glass breaking.

It was deadly silent, except from Rachel's muted sobs against Paul's shoulder. Paul sent me a glare, as if it was my fault that my boyfriend had made her sobs increase. I turned on the heel and ran outside.

He was there, thank god. He'd walked up towards the treeline, a little distance from the house. He was covering his face with his hands, rubbing his forehead frantically. I ran over to him, and he looked up. He had a wild look upon his face. I hugged him immediately, hoping he wouldn't push me away. He didn't. I noticed he was trembling. When I leaned back to look at his face, he seemed confused. He still had that wild look in his eyes, but he seemed to have calmed down a little bit.

"I don't know what happened there. I just snapped" he said, as if wanting to explain himself.

"It doesn't matter" I said. I studied his face. His arms wound their way around me and held me to him as if he needed the support.

"Are you..." I paused "How do you feel?" I was going to ask if he was okay, but stopped myself. Of course he wasn't okay. He understood what I meant though.

"I'm... I... I needed to do that. To go in there." he shook his head as if to clear his mind. " It wont be like that the next time. I wont be like that"

He paused and looked down at me. I don't know what he saw, but it must have evoked something in him. His arms yanked me closer as he leaned his head down to press his lips against mine. Just like he had kissed me this morning, this kiss was not gentle or sweet. It was forceful and desperate. It was if he needed something, as if he was searching for something he couldn't find.

I let my arms encircle his neck and brought him even closer. He deepened the kiss and I kissed him back just as frantically. He let out a shaky exhale and I felt his hands reach down to sneak under the hem of my shirt. His palms pressed against the skin on my lower back and I felt an electric jolt shoot through my body. Was it possible that I could be feeling like this now? Apparently I could, and so could he.

I drew back. Again, this was not the time or place, and he was not in the right state of mind either. He didn't protest, he just kept his eyes closed and pressed his forehead against mine. He let out another shaky exhale, and we stood like that, trying to calm our racing heartbeats. Finally he opened his eyes, and my heart felt lighter as I saw his expression. He didn't smile, but he seemed calmer. The wild look was gone.

"Rachel and I have to go to the hospital" he said.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

He hesitated, and a torn look appeared on his face.

"I want to be with you." he said. "But I think maybe this is something I have to do on my own".

Of course I would come if he wanted me to come. But if he wanted to do this by himself then that would be okay too. I didn't know if I understood, if I could understand, but I nodded nonetheless. Whatever he wanted.

"Do you want me to wait for you here?"

"I don't know how long it will take." he said, and looked over his shoulder back towards the house. Rachel and Paul were on their way out. Rachel went straight over to the car, without looking at us. Paul sent Jacob a dismissal look before he got into the drivers seat. It annoyed me; he had not the right to judge anyone. I squeezed Jacobs hand, as we turned and walked back in the direction to the car.

"I'll be around when you come back" I promised. He just nodded and gave me a half smile. Then he leaned down to kiss me tenderly before he got into the backseat of Paul's car.

I looked after them as they drove out of the driveway. Then I went back into the house. The atmosphere was still dull, the clock was still the only ticking sound. I half expected Billy to wheel himself out of his room, wondering if I would stay for dinner. I stood there looking dumbly into the air for a few moments before I got myself into action.

I cleaned. Jacobs little outburst had made two pictures fall down, making the glass break. I wiped it up and put the photos carefully on top of a drawer. The broken water glass also needed to be cleaned up. I wiped up the broken glass and found a mop to clean up the water.

As I crouched down on my knees in front of the couch, I saw the wooden sculpture he'd thrown. It was broken in two pieces. I picked them up, and put them together. It was the neat carving of a wolf, sitting down with the snout turned upwards. It was a made in the traditional Quileute carving I realized, and it reminded me of the promise bracelet Jacob had given me for my first Christmas.

As I turned it around, I realized something was written underneath. I squinted my eyes, trying to interpret the handwriting. With a jolt I realized it was Billy's. _To Jacob, _it said, signed _Billy. _That was all it said. This must be a present Jacob had gotten when he was a little kid or something, when Billy first thought him how to do wooden carvings. A tear dripped down on the floor and I realized I was crying.

I glued it together. Jacob would regret it later, if he had ruined it. It was merely visible that it had been broken, just a slight crack on the side. I put it back on the mantlepiece, and looked around. Then I heard quiet footsteps outside, and rushed towards the door. Maybe Jacob was coming back already.

It wasn't Jacob. It was Seth. He was just coming out from the forest wearing the usual cut-offs, walking in the direction of Billy's house. I don't think I've ever been so glad to see him before.

"Nessie!" he exclaimed, and stopped abruptly as he noticed me. I jumped down the front-porch and ran straight into his arms. He hugged me back, a little surprised, and drew my shoulders back to look at me.

"You've been crying" he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "I was on my way over, just to see if there was anything I could do. How is he?" Seth looked past me towards the house, and I understood he was referring to Jacob.

"He's not here. He's at the hospital with Rachel, sorting things out. I'm not sure how long it will take."

"Oh. What are you doing here, then?"

"I just wanted to be here when he comes back. He wanted to go there on his own"

Seth didn't ask anything else, he just nodded. Maybe he understood better than I did.

"Come on"

I grabbed his arm and dragged him after me towards the house. I wouldn't let him go quite yet, I needed to know what was happening. And I needed someone to talk to.

We sat down on the front stairs.

"He phased last night" Seth told me.

"I know, he mentioned it. He didn't stay there long though?"

"No. I guess he just wanted to be able to think without being interrupted. We didn't even get to tell him we could leave him alone if he wanted to, before he was gone."

"He was pretty upset" I said lamely. It didn't really cover it, but Seth didn't ask me to elaborate.

"How's he handling it now?" he asked.

I told him about Jacob's outburst earlier that day, but that he had seemed to calm down a little.

"Smart of you not to go here right away last night" Seth said. "I guess that would only have made it harder for him." He stared out on the forest for a little moment, and I wondered what he was thinking. "I know Quil and Embry were here last night" he continued "But there was no one here, so they guessed he was with you"

I stared out on the forest as well, and we didn't speak for a few moments. It had stopped raining today, but the grass was still moist. It was one of those awful quiet days. I realized I had skipped school today without even thinking about it.

"It looks kinda nice" Seth said suddenly, breaking my train of thoughts. His voice was thoughtful.

"What does?"

"Imprinting." he paused, before he elaborated. "I mean, I've seen it through the others eyes and it's surreal, but still very... very..."

His voice trailed off.

"It is nice" I said, unsure of what to say. "Of course it is"

He started to say something, but then stopped himself as if he'd changed his mind. He hesitated for a second, but then opened his mouth to say it anyway.

"Do you think I'll ever...?"

Oh. I understood then. He wanted it too.

"Who knows" I smiled "Maybe all you have to do is look out the window one day and then _bam._ You'll never know what hit you"

He smiled, but it didn't last long. I continued.

"And well, if you don't, then so what? You don't need imprinting to be madly in love with someone"

"I know, I know. It would just be so... I mean, to meet _someone_. To know that there will always be _someone. _That will stay no matter what."

I wasn't used to him being this serious. We rarely spoke seriously about our love-lives, at least not like this. What was he thinking? I somehow got the impression there was something more behind this. Was he heartbroken? Lovesick?

"Jake is lucky to have you." he paused. " I wish I had someone when...you know...when dad..." he paused again, looking down.

Oh. I had almost forgotten, and how could I. Seth and Leah had lost their father as well. Even thought it was many years ago now, they had both been pretty young. Who else would know better how Jacob felt right now than Seth.

Seth turned to give me a quick smile, as if to show me he wasn't sad or moping or anything. I didn't really know what to say, so I just wrapped my arm around his shoulders, as a friendly gesture.

"Imprinting is cool" I said, making my voice light "but not necessary".

He laughed at that.

* * *

Seth stayed for a little while, before he headed back home. I went back inside, feeling a little better than I had before. Talking to Seth had helped.

I called my dad. I told him everything that had happened, and that I would stay here until Jacob came home, no matter when he did. Dad didn't protest, he didn't even mention me skipping school.

I cleaned the floors, just to have something to do. I did the dishes. I cried a little. I tidied Jacobs room. And then I made lasagna. He must be hungry, it had been a while since he'd eaten properly. I didn't feel like eating.

As it became dark outside, I settled in a chair with the TV buzzing in the background. I had put on one of Jacobs oversized t-shirts and an old flannel shirt. I wrapped my feet up in the chair as well, wrapping my arms around them, and rested my head against my knees. I didn't really watch the TV, but closed my eyes and listened to the buzzing sounds. It didn't last long before I fell asleep.

* * *

_A.N: I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, it turned out more mushy than I intended. Oh well. Hope you'll bear with me. But I'm satisfied with the next one, so stick around! Let me know what you think :)_


	15. Sentimental crap

_AN: __Thank so much for the wonderful reviews. Some of you thought the last chapter was mushy, some thought it wasn't. Well I'm glad you liked it:) _

_I'm letting you into Jacobs mind today. This is a messy place to be right now, but it was surprisingly easy to write. Oh, and I know it's a bit short, it was just a little something I wanted to write:)_

_Song: The Brothel – Susanne. Search it up on youtube. Really, do! I love the lyrics to this song. It's brilliant._

* * *

**Sentimental Crap**

-JPOV

* * *

My feet felt heavy as I dragged myself up the porch stairs to the front door. I hadn't felt physically tired in years, but now it was as if I barely could take another step. The only thing keeping me going forward was the thought of seeing her again. Her pull was the only thing that kept me moving right now.

Even through the queasy throbbing that stung inside my body, spite the tiredness, exhaustion and carelessness, I felt it. Almost like a slight nudge, humming through me from toes to fingertips, willing me in one direction. The only direction. There never really was more than one direction. It led me to her, wherever she was. Just like it had from the day she was born, before even. I let it guide me, my mind just floating along like a sheep.

It had been an angry day. My head had been filled with almost nothing but swearwords. People everywhere. Their crying annoyed me. Their understanding annoyed me. Their comforting pats on the back annoyed me. Their sympathetic looks annoyed me. Their helpfulness annoyed me.

I felt heavy. My head felt heavy. It felt like it would tip over any second. It was a pain having to keep it up on my shoulders and not let it crash to the ground in front of me.

Phasing didn't make it better, either. The others in the pack would be there. They annoyed me as well. In one day my self-control and patience had crumbled into dust. All the time I had just wanted to go back home. But at the same time, a part of me knew I had to do this. Go through this. Fix this. For him.

Charlie had been at the hospital. He had insisted on us to come and join him home for dinner. Rachel was too fucking polite to say no and I was too tired to object. So we did. We'd joined him and eaten dinner, every single of us wanting to be somewhere else, including Charlie. Rachel wanted to go home with Paul, I guess. I'm sure Paul wanted just the same I'm guessing Charlie would like nothing more than being alone. I just wanted to go home.

He'd meant it as a nice gesture, of course. Wanting to take care of us. Make sure we ate something. Not that anyone had eaten much. Instead of driving back home with Paul and my sister, I'd left there on foot. They annoyed me too. Charlie wanted to drive me of course, but I told him I needed the walk and fresh air.

I snorted. As if that would help.

I opened the front door and got in. The smell, the memories...It hit me like a brick in the face. Just like this morning. Still, it wasn't as bad. I was expecting it now. I had done it before.

I walked into the living room and he was everywhere. In every piece of furniture and every inch of the floor and walls. Hell. I couldn't see, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. His absence was screaming at me from me from all around and it made me feel even more cold and empty inside.

I could link each and every thing in the room to a memory of him, a Christmas with him, a dinner, a birthday, a completely normal day. A small part of me was happy for this. It would help me remember. The rest of me just wanted to weep.

In the middle of this, in the middle of all those memories, was Nessie. She was sitting crouched together in one of the chairs, her feet wrapped up beside her. She was sleeping. Her head was slumped against the back of the chair and her hair fell down around her shoulders. She was wearing one of my t-shirts, just like the last time she'd slept here. She'd put an old flannel shirt on top, one I never used any more. As I watched her, it felt a little bit easier to breathe.

I walked over to her. The TV was still on so I turned it off. She was sitting in the chair by the window, the chair he'd rarely used. I briefly wondered if she'd sat there on purpose. Like if to not disturb what was his. His chair was still standing achingly empty in front of the TV.

It still smelled like him.

I bent down intending to to pick her up, feeling the heat radiating from her naked legs. But then something in the corner of my eye caught my attention. I straightened up and crossed the room in two long strides. It was there. On the mantelpiece.

But I had broken it. I'd heard it crack as it hit the floor. I'd been angry. I'd been stupid. I'd regretted it. But hell, I'd had reasons to be.

I picked up the carved wolf and tuned it around in my hands. I saw it then. The crack along the right shoulder. It _had _cracked in two. I lifted it to my nose and skimmed along the side. It smelled glue. With astonished eyes I turned around to look at the girl sleeping in the chair across the room. She'd glued it together. For me. The warm feeling came back. It didn't erase the cold, but it made it a little less unbearable.

I turned my gaze back to the carved sculpture, took a deep breath and turned it upside down. His handwriting was still there. He'd given me this on my ninth birthday, along with my first knife. And then he'd taught me how to make one myself. It hadn't been nearly as good as this. Funny how he would give me a wolf. Maybe he suspected it back then, that I would grow four legs one day. There was so much I'd never gotten to ask him. And now it was too late.

I was running the highway of sentimental crap, and I knew it. Maybe I should wake up Nessie, go all mushy on her, weep my eyes out against her t-shirt again. I had done it before, right? Twice, even. I could feel my eyes burn, the annoying prickling coming back. I rubbed my eyes angrily, forcefully, hurting myself on purpose. I wouldn't cry now. I was sick of people crying everywhere.

The angry thoughts came back and I put the wolf back on the mantlepiece. It staggered for a second before it turned still. My hands inched forward, wanting to crush something. Instead, I forced myself to turn around and look at Nessie.

My pulse instantly calmed. Out of reflex I started to walk over to her, and as I crossed the room I realized the carved wolf wasn't the only thing she'd fixed. She'd wiped up the broken glass from the floor too. And the broken pictures. I drew a deep breath. It smelled cleaner as well. And it smelled food. But for once, I wasn't hungry.

I walked over to her and picked her up, the one person in the world that didn't make me annoyed today. Her naked legs felt hot against my arm. I realized not only was she the only thing that felt hot to me, she also was the only things that could warm me inside.

I snapped out of it. What was this, realization-time? These sentimental thoughts were eating me up from the inside. I wanted to reconnect my mind from my body so that I wouldn't have to listen to my own thoughts any more.

I carried her into my bedroom and laid her down on the bed, trying not to wake her. As I laid her down she fumbled a little bit around in her sleep, mumbling something I couldn't quite hear. She settled on her side facing away from me, curling her naked, beautiful legs up. I needed her. Desperately. Now.

I laid down beside her and wrapped my arm around her stomach, pulling her close to me. She was still wearing the flannel shirt of top of the t-shirt. Too much clothing. I carefully managed to ease her out of the shirt, removing it without waking her up. I tossed it into a corner. I needed to feel her skin, her warmth. Without her I was cold.

I wrapped my arms around her again, pulling her closer. The t-shirt slipped up but I barely noticed. I needed her. She was the only thing that kept me sane right now. That could make me forget, ease the pain just a little bit. I pulled her close, and she tried to concentrate on nothing but her.

It almost surprised me that I didn't wake her up, the way I clung to her. I must look pathetic but I didn't care. If she woke up now, I don't know what I would've done. I wouldn't have been able to control myself. I needed to feel her close to me. I would probably end up fucking her against the wall, if she'd let me.

No. I guess I wouldn't. She deserved better than that.

I drew a deep breath and buried my nose in her hair behind her neck. I closed my eyes and concentrated on nothing but her scent and her body pressed against mine. Right now, I needed her like air. I tried to make myself relax.

A cruel thought shot through me. I forced it away, but it left a clinging echo in my mind. It could have been worse, it said. It was cruel to even think it. But it was true. This sorrow, this loss, this emptiness. It could have been worse. It could have been more painful. I tightened my arms around the girl next to me and pinched my eyes together. That would never happen.'

* * *

_A.N: I know. It's been depressing for a while now, hasn't it. These events will bring the two of them even closer though. And I'm going to make it up to you for the lack of smiles and cuddling very soon;)_


	16. Sneaking

_A.N: Here's a normal sized chapter for you:)_

* * *

**Sneaking**

_-NPOV_

* * *

When I opened my eyes, Jacob was there. I didn't see him, but I could feel his arm wrapped tightly around my waist. His body was lined against every inch of mine, and he had buried his face in my neck. He held himself close to me, and he must have been holding me like this throughout the whole night. His breaths were slow and deep, so he must be sleeping.

He'd carried me into his room again. Why was it he always seemed to carry my around when I slept? Or maybe it was me who had the habit of falling asleep in everything but the bed, rather. This wasn't the first time I'd fallen asleep in the living room.

His stomach rumbled quietly. Hadn't he eaten anything last night? I'd put the lasagna on a very visible spot on the counter. Maybe he hadn't been hungry. The thought made me worried. Jacob was always hungry.

I very carefully tried to ease my way around in his arms so that I could face him. He grumbled something in his sleep and his arms around me tightened abruptly as if to keep me there, not wanting to loosen his hold of me.

"Hey" I smiled. "I'm not sneaking off." He was kind of squeezing me.

I managed to turn around in his arms so that we were facing each other. I didn't wake him though, he just grumbled some more and kept his grip around my waist. His grip around me was tight and he was pressing me firmly against his own body. He moved one of his his hands upwards to press against my back, and it felt surprisingly soft against my skin.

Wait.

Hand. Back. I looked down. My t-shirt had been pushed up while I slept, exposing my stomach and lover back. No flannel shirt there, mister. One of his hands was placed tightly around my waist, and the other was pressed up between my shoulder blades, dragging the t-shirt upwards. This meant my panties were sprawled out for the world to see. Only this wasn't the world, it was Jake. So I guess I didn't mind. I sure hope he hadn't found me like this though. Thank god I'd put on pretty underwear.

He let out a heavy sigh, mumbling something I didn't quite catch. I leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. I smiled to myself when he wrinkled it, as people do when they're being tickled. I leaned forward to kiss his nose again, and just as my lips made contact he opened his eyes.

I smiled. He didn't. I almost asked what was wrong when he reached forward and pressed his lips to mine. His lips were rough against mine and he was kissing me hungrily, pinching his eyes shut. His hands moved from my back only to frame my face, and he rolled us both over pressing me into the mattress under him.

He pinned my body to his, and my arms automatically roamed over his back. This was unexpected. But oh so good. His kisses were hot and desperate, and there was a raw honesty in the way they grasped for mine. A quiet moan escaped my lips when his hands moved down to wrap under me, arching my back, pressing me closer to him. His tongue left a burning trail in my mouth.

If my t-shirt was pushed up or down or to the side, I wouldn't know. I was busy running my fingers through his hair. The only thing I managed to focus on was the blazing trails his fingertips left on my skin, leaving my skin in tingling patterns. He moved one of his hands downwards, letting it trail down my thigh. When he reached my knee he wrapped his hand around it and hitched it up, wrapping it around his waist. I could feel him press between my legs. I shivered. He let out a shaky exhale but didn't stop kissing me.

I was starting to feel lightheaded, and I could almost feel the sparks emoting from him. He moved his hands from my sides and hips and wrapped them around my rear. His breath was ragged and I guess mine was too. I had a sparkly, tingly feeling deep in my stomach, making my knees shiver.

It hit me that I was going to miss another day of school, and I didn't mind one bit. I put my palms on his back and pressed him closer. I let my hands wander down his back and slipped my fingertips under the hem of his sweatpants. He made a little noise in the back of his throat, somewhere between a moan and a growl. His hand moved from my backside only to grip the front fabric of my t-shirt in his fist, tugging it. I wondered briefly if he was going to tear it. But I never got to find out, because just then my phone rang and we both jolted into the air.

Our lips broke contact and our grip loosened. We lay there for a few seconds, staring at each other, trying to control our ragged breaths. It took another couple of seconds before I realized I was supposed to answer the phone.

It was my mother. Thank god it wasn't my dad, he would have gotten suspicious at once he heard my breathless, vague answers. My mother didn't seem to notice. She wondered where we were and if I would be coming home today. She didn't pester me about school either, which almost surprised me. For a moment I'd just about forgotten everything that had to do with the outside world. School, friends, my parents... Now it all came crashing back.

All the time I was talking on the phone, Jacob was laying quietly beside me, stroking his hand absentmindedly up and down my back. I watched his face as it gradually settled into a calm, sad mask. I guess reality was catching up with him. It had at least broken the bubble we had been wrapped up in a just moment ago.

I realized maybe this wasn't the best time to continue what had just passed between us any further. It could only be very confusing for Jacob to have all these feeling mixed together. The sorrow for his father and the feelings he had for me. Both were so strong and both so far apart. Seth had told me a while ago how confusing this felt for the pack. I couldn't then imagine how this must feel for Jacob himself.

But that didn't mean those feelings we shared, what had just happened weren't there. Because they definitely were. It wasn't possible to just put them on hold. I wanted him. I remembered only two days ago, how I'd almost bounced to La Push to be able to be alone with Jacob while Billy were at Charlie's. If Billy hadn't died that day, who knows what could have happened. I thought I had a fairly good idea.

Another thing was, that if he had these feelings towards me as well, I would let him have it. If the first thing he wanted to do this morning was kiss me like this, then I'd let him. Encourage him. It wouldn't ease how he felt, but it would take his mind of it for a little while. But taking the full step? Maybe he needed to clear his head a little bit first. Maybe not today, at least.

After finishing talking to my mom, we both hung up. Funny how Jacob and I always got interrupted like this every time we were in the middle of something. I looked down at him. He was staring distantly at the curls that fell down my back, while absentmindedly stroking one finger up and down my spine. He seemed deep in thought. Not before I lay down beside him did he realize I'd stopped talking on the phone. He smiled. Not a happy smile, but honest.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

I nodded. Everything was fine.

The house was quiet. The only sound was the loud ticking coming from the clock on the mantlepiece in the living room. It was raining outside. I could hear the muted thuds from raindrops landing on the roof.

"How did it go yesterday?" I asked quietly. I figured it was an okay question. If he wanted to talk about it, he could, and if he'd rather not then he could let it be. Up to him. He hesitated before he answered."

"It felt good to come back home last night" he paused. "I might have to go back there today though."

He didn't say anything else, he just wrapped his arm around me and held me to him. Maybe he didn't feel like talking just yet.

"You know, Jacob" I paused, choosing my words carefully. "If you want to talk about it, you don't even have to ask."

He let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes.

"I know. Thank you. But not now"

I rested my cheek on his shoulder. He reached down and kissed my forehead tenderly. "Maybe some other time", he said. I just nodded. He knew he could talk to me if he wanted to, at least.

"Thank you for everything that you did last night" he said gratefully and opened his eyes. There was a slight change in his voice, it was a little warmer somehow. It took a second before I understood what he meant. But then I got it. He'd seen the wolf.

"Don't mention it" I closed my eyes and let my head relax on his shoulder. I let out a quiet exhale and felt his grip tighten around my waist.

* * *

It took nine days. Before he made a joke. A sincere, honest typical Jacob happy-like-the-sun joke. I watched him as he somehow got his good mood back, bit by bit. As the days past, his smiles grew more sincere, and his eyes followed. I knew he was still sad. Of course he was. But it didn't consume him all the time. And he seemed happier around me, so I stuck to him like an extra limb. Now he had two feet, two arms, ten toes and a Nessie. He definitely didn't mind.

The funeral had been beautiful. It had been a cloudy day, with no rain. My family was there, and almost everyone in La Push. I cried. Jacob didn't. I think he must have cried all the tears he had the past few days and didn't have any left. During the ceremony he was standing there beside me like the perfect picture of calm control. His hands weren't even shaking. But I could see his jaw was clenched tightly.

The after-ceremony was held down at the Clearwater's. It was easier that way. Just a quiet gathering of a few people. It was nice and sad and didn't last very long. He was glad when it was over.

I had skipped a few days of school in the beginning, but now I had started going again. Slowly our lives had started to go back to normal. We were together all the time. He slept with me in my room, and my parents didn't object. For now. He'd stayed at his home in La Push the first few days, when Rebecca had stayed there too. They had decided they would keep the house for now. When Rebecca had left, the house was left for him to live in alone. He hadn't been there much though, he spent most of his night at our cottage.

It was Friday. A sunny one. I was sitting outside in the school yard with my girlfriends. The subject of the conversation hovered around boyfriends, and it was easy, relaxed and a bit goofy, I guess. I let them keep on with it and enjoyed the sun on my face, listening to their stories and complaints with an amused look on my face.

"And my dad was like, so mad, he all but kicked him out of the house and then grounded me for a week. He thought we were going to, you know, _do _it, but we weren't!" Sophie sighed dramatically. "I'll never have a guy sneaking into into my bedroom again"

"Well, I sure can forget about Dominic spending the night" Tina said. Dominic was her new boyfriend. "My dad's won't allow it. He's really old fashioned."

I smiled. I was willing to bet a lot that my dad was more old fashioned than hers. Old_er, _at least.

About that. My dad had been surprisingly cool with me and Jake's relationship. I'd been thinking about that (only when dad was safely out of mind range of course) . Why would he think it was okay for Jacob to stay now, when he normally didn't like it? And why would he be okay with me staying the nights at Jacobs place?

The only answer must be that he was happily oblivious. Thoughts of Billy must have taken over both of out brains for the last weeks, no wonder.

Not that we'd really done anything. We hadn't. And definitely not since Billy had past away. But I could imagine the look on his face if my dad were to walk in on us while we were doing what we did, and it wouldn't be a pretty one. Of course, in the cottage we barely touched. A small kiss at the most. We weren't stupid. Or suicidal, as Jacob liked to put it.

"...and besides, I don't have the guts to keep sneaking around" Tina finished, sending Sophie a sly smile. Sophie smacked her shoulder playfully.

"I can forget about sneaking anywhere, that's for sure" Joan said dryly, taking a sip of her soda. She lived with her parents in a small apartment. On the sixth floor. I could see the problem. "Easier if you lived in the forest, like some" she poked my arm, waking me from my reverie. "Just climb a three, jump in a window, and you're there"

Of course, she was referring to the main house. My girlfriends didn't know about the little cottage. There wasn't really a real road leading up to it, and on questions of how we would get there, "running" might sound little bit different in their ears than in mine.

Joan continued

"Your house is like sneak-in foolproof. On a windy day, no one would notice. Seriously, anyone could do that!"

Sure. It would be so easy to sneak up to a house with eight vampires, where as one could see your future, one could read you mind, and one could sense your emotions. No problem. Piece of cake.

"Now why hasn't Jacob thought of that, huh?" She elbowed my rib, wiggling her eyebrows.

Sure, why wouldn't he? I think they might hear him when he climbed up my window. And smell him when he opened it. They were kind of sensitive to werewolf scent last time I checked. And of course, there was the thing about the mind-reading. Jacob might as well come knocking on the door and declare his intentions. Well, I guess he sort of did the last part. Without the the declaring, of course.

"He doesn't need to sneak around really" It wouldn't work much either, that's for sure. "He can just come in the door. He spends most of the nights anyway" I shrugged. It was true. The cottage, the main house... He'd slept where I slept lately.

I noticed the atmosphere had gotten suspiciously quiet. I looked around to see three pairs of shocked eyes before I was bombarded with questions, all of them requiring the same: _Explain_. Guess I should have seen that one coming.

"No, no, not like that. We don't... you _know. _He just _sleeps _there."

I did sooo not want to have this conversation.

New round of questions.

"Seriously, your parents are okay with that?"

"How would you define "sleep"?"

"Why haven't we heard about this before?"

"How can your guy spend the nights when my can't? It's _so _unfair"

Well, I wouldn't say it was _unfair_. I guess the conditions on Jacob spending the nights was that my parents had super-hearing and could hear our every move and touch. Oh, and then the minor thing that my dad could read both of our minds. Foolproof. No biggie.

I didn't know what to say so I just shrugged.


	17. Mexico

_A.N: Oh. And for the sensitive ones, there's a slight sugary grapefruit-smoothie alert in this one;) Sort of. I think._

* * *

**Mexico**

* * *

"Nessie" my dad said.

I thought I could detect a strange edge to the way he said my name. He was sitting opposite me in the living room in the main house. I'd just gotten here after school. I'd just been thinking about the silly conversation with my friends earlier today, and earned a slightly amused, slightly disapproval look from my father. My mom was in the kitchen with Esme and Carlisle.

_Yes?_ I didn't bother to answer him out loud.

"We got a call from the Denali-coven just before you came home from school today. They invited us to visit.

" Okay"

"Alice and Jasper might be joining us as well, straight from college"

"When are we going?" It had been a while since the last time I'd seen them now.

"They invited us for the weekend, so we're leaving tonight."

"Oh" I said. But then I had second thoughts. _Oh. _I wasn't sure how Jacob would like it if I left right now. This was not the best time to leave him alone in his fathers house. He seemed fine, yeah, when he was with me. When he was alone, he got sad. I guess he could join us, but I didn't think a weekend trip packed with vampires was high up on his priority-list right now.

I barely noticed that my dads eyes narrowed as he listened to my train of thoughts.

"I don't think I'll be going with you" I said. My dad nodded slowly. His eyes were still squinted, as if he waited for me to say more.

"I can understand that" he said truthfully. He paused. "So you're just going to stay here with Jacob, then?"

The strange edge to his voice came back. Like when he was trying to hide something. Too smooth. He looked at me, kind of baffled that I'd noticed.

_I know you_, I thought, sending him a searching look. He dropped the facade then, letting out a resigned sigh.

"Just behave yourselves" he muttered.

I stared at him for a second, wondering what he meant by that. My honest confusion seemed to make him smile, and he visibly relaxed in front of me.

_What do you...? _

But then I got it, and if I hadn't been so surprised I would have blushed violently.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, my voice high with indignation. I realized he'd been searching for my reaction to his news all the way through our conversation. As if he had suspected me to think _Yes! This is the chance! Finally alone! Time for some bed-bouncing! a_nd then quickly tried to hide my thoughts by retelling the Bible or something. Jeez,dad.

_You know why I don't want to leave him here alone, _I thought. I didn't want Jacob to retreat into sadness again.

"I know. I guess I knew all the way you'd want to stay. But you've become good to hiding your thoughts from me. So I had to check." he smiled. The sharp edge to his voice was gone, and he seemed totally relaxed. He'd found out he had nothing to worry about.

I didn't even dignify that with an answer. Thoughts were originally private things, and originally something my dad should just butt out from. Dad burst out laughing as he heard me and saw my expression.

"You know" he mused. "sometimes you are very like your mother".

* * *

They left a couple of hours later, promising to call when they arrived. They would only be gone for a few days, so it was no big deal. My mom refused to leave until I had called Jacob and told him they were leaving. She'd been a little overprotective after the whole kidnapping incident in February. Guess I could understand that.

I finally reached Jacob on the phone. He had been out with the pack (a good sign. It had taken a few days after Billy passed away before he'd even wanted to phase, but he seemed cool with it now) and he seemed exhausted when I spoke to him. He offered to come over, but I said I could come over to his place instead. He didn't seem to be up for another run.

My family left, and I took off into the woods headed to La Push. The sun had disappeared behind a blanket of clouds (no wonder, this was Forks), and I thought I could detect a faint scent of rain in the air. Of course the sunny weather couldn't last. But I didn't mind, I liked rain.

I reached La Push in just a few minutes, and started walking when I could see Jacobs house. I wondered what we would be doing this weekend. He might have to do some pack-stuff, but I didn't have any plans. I was glad, it would be nice to have some alone-time with Jake, especially now that he seemed to be doing a lot better. Since Billy passed away, we hadn't had much focus on us. Don't hear me wrong, it was very understandable and I didn't complain. But it would be nice being just Jacob and Nessie like we used to be.

I was about to knock on the door when I noticed the soft, even breathing coming from inside. I leaned closer to the door and gently pushed it open. I peeked in. Jacob was sitting on the far too small couch. He was sleeping, his head lolled backwards against the pillows.

I smiled to myself and closed the door behind me as I entered. He really was exhausted, wasn't he. I walked over to him and sat down beside him. He woke with a startle.

"Oh" he said, and blinked a few times. "Hi"

I smiled down at him as he rubbed his eyes in confusion and looked around. He looked like he could use a good nights sleep.

"I really think we should get you to bed" I said.

"Come on, it's only like four in the afternoon" He leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes again.

"It's seven"

"I rest my case"

"You're the one who needs rest."

Jacob snorted. "Funny."

"You're tired" I insisted.

"I'm fine. Just give me a second to wake up"

I looked at him, sitting in front of me with his eyes closed. He looked tired, that's what he looked, from running out with the pack all night. And I think he might was in danger of falling asleep on the couch again.

"Why don't you want to go to bed?"

"I want to be here with you"

He opened his eyes to smile at me. It was a sleepy smile.

"Okay, okay" I smiled back and then got an idea. "You can just sit here, then, while I go and take a nap in your bed. Because I'm _exhausted._"

And then I stood up and went into his room, leaving him in the couch staring after me. I laid down in his bed and started counting to ten.

I got to seven.

"You're cunning"he said as he wrapped the cover aside and laid down behind me. I turned around to face him, a big smile on my face.

"Well it worked"

"You're not really exhausted, are you?" he murmured.

"Nope"

He pulled me closer and wrapped me up in his arms, and it didn't last long before his breaths became heavy and he fell asleep.

* * *

I let him sleep for a couple of hours. He needed it. And we had all weekend together. I watched as it started to get dark outside the window, and the day slowly became night. The only sound was Jacob's even breaths and the quiet tapping of the rain outside.

Jacob sighed heavily beside me, and when I looked over at him he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times before he saw me clearly, and then tightened his grip around me. He didn't say anything, but started to glide his hand up and down my back in a soothing movement.

"Were you out running all night?" I whispered. Some sleep had done him well. He smiled.

"Yeah..." he said, his voice drifting away as he took me in. We stared at each other for a few seconds and the atmosphere got gradually more tense.

He didn't let go of my gaze. The look in his eyes almost made me shiver, it was so intense. If I had been standing I'm sure my knees would have buckled by now. My hand absentmindedly started to wander over his chest; I wasn't even aware I was doing it. After what seemed like minutes his lips crashed down on mine and I let out a shaky exhale.

He kissed me with a surprisingly determination, as if he just couldn't hold back. He rolled us around so that he was laying on top of me and he wrapped his big hands around my face. His lips were frantic and I kissed him back just as hungrily. The intensity of it all surprised me, and I couldn't even remember the last time we had kissed like this.

I let my hands wander up and down his body, over the muscles on his back and arms, over his triceps bulging from supporting his weight. I finally wrapped my arms around his waist, gently pulling him closer to me. He closed the distance between us and allowed himself to rest some of his weight on me. His open-mouth kisses were warm and soft and was making my insides turn all warm and fuzzy.

He moved one hand from my face to bury in my hair behind my neck, as I hitched both of my legs up to wrap around him. His mouth crashed against mine again, and I reacted by arching my back into him. His hand that was not buried in my hair, started to roam over my body, and he ended up wrapping it around my breast. At the same time he pulled his lips just a little bit away from mine and opened his eyes, silently asking if this was okay. I almost groaned out loud before I yanked his lips back to mine. Of _course_ this was okay.

Luckily his hesitance ended there. He roamed, fondled and explored as our breaths became more and more ragged. I wrapped my hands around his neck and shoved him an image of us sliding around, so that I would be sitting on top of him. He flipped us over at once, doing exactly as I wanted with no hesitation or objection. I rested my knees on each side of his hips and continued to kiss him feverishly.

He followed my every move, his big hands wrapping almost all the way around my hips. I let my hands roam freely over his bare chest, and he tugged the shirt I was wearing, making it slip down from my shoulders. My stomach started to tingle again, with anticipation this time. I let the shirt slide further down, all the way to my elbows. Jacob let out a sound in the back of his throat, almost like a growl. I deliberately let my tongue graze his lower lip. He made another noise and remover my shirt completely. I don't know where it ended up, and I really couldn't care less.

His hands pressed against the small of my back, his fingers fumbling with the fabric of my t-shirt. One of his hands slid up, pressing against the bare skin of my back. My thoughts started to wander. We had the whole house to ourselves. No one was expected to drop by. And we would have the house to ourselves for the whole weekend. I would be staying here with him. For two nights. Alone. Just the two of us. God. My stomach curled. In a good way.

His hands roamed over my bare back now, slipping my t-shirt upwards exposing my stomach. One of his hands wandered forward to gently cup my breast under the t-shirt, on top of my bra. I could feel his hesitation first, but an apology was not what I wanted.

This whole situation was unexpected. When I went over to La Push today, when my dad talked to me earlier, this had been far from my mind. I didn't think we were _there _yet. But maybe we had been for a while, only we'd never gotten the opportunity. I hadn't thought Jacob was in the mood really, after all that had happened lately.

According to the bulge that was pressing against my thigh, he really was in the mood.

He placed his hands on each side of my hips, and flipped us back over again. My head crashed down against the pillows, his lips never leaving mine. Both of his hands started to move upwards over my stomach, dragging the t-shirt along. Right before he reached my bra, he stopped and pulled his head back, breaking the kiss. I let out a little whine in protest and opened my eyes.

The look he sent me made me visibly shiver. His eyes were blazing and they were clouded with want and love. And maybe a little tad of hornyness.

"Ness" he whispered, barely making a sound at all. I let my fingers trace the muscles of his back. "Is this okay?".

He tugged my t-shirt a little bit, to make sure I knew what he meant. I nodded, looking into his eyes to let him know I meant it. His lips were back on mine in the next second. He continued to move his hands upwards and had finally pushed the t-shirt all the way over my bra. I moved my hands from his back to lift them over my head , so that he could remove the t-shirt completely. His lips had to break free from mine from a moment, but were back against mine the same second my head came free from the t-shirt. He tossed the t-shirt somewhere. Didn't care.

So careful and hesitant, giving me the time to stop him if I wanted to, he moved his hands up my stomach. He reached my bra and then he paused.

"Is this..?" he started, opening his eyes. I didn't let him finish, but captured his lips with mine. He took that as a yes, and slowly moved his thumb to wrap around the thin fabric of my bra. I felt him shudder as he caressed my bare skin and I smirked to myself. Not once did he break the kiss and look down though, but continued our feverish kissing.

On their own accord, my hands started to wander downwards over his body. They reached the small of his back, moved down his backside and over his hips to find the front of his pants. He was wearing cut offs. Denim. Stupid thing. I fumbled a little bit with unhooking the button. He made a sound in the back of his throat, like if he tried to suppress a groan.

I managed to unhook it though, and pulled the zipper down. My hands were surprisingly steady. I tugged at his pants just a little bit, to make him help me remove them. He did, his lips never once letting go of mine. I heard a soft thud as his shorts hit the floor.

Jacob lifted himself off me only to lay down beside me. Hid lips still never left mine. Only when my hands wandered down to the elastic band of his boxers, he broke the kiss. He didn't pull away though, but rested his forehead against mine. He opened his eyes and looked at me, trying to keep his shaky breaths under control.

I looked down without thinking, and somehow I couldn't make myself look away. Jacob was absolutely amazing, laying here beside me in his boxers. I don't think I ever realized before how absolutely _handsome_ he was. And those muscles. I looked down at his black boxers, and didn't even blush. I had a feeling my eyes were about to pop out though, so I managed to tear my eyes back up to his face. And I realized I was not the only one struggling to keep my eyes to myself. His eyes were kind of popping out too.

I smiled, and put a hand under his chin. He looked up, and for a second the look he sent me told me how completely unbelievable and wonderful he felt right now, and then his lips crashed back against mine. I wound my arms around his neck, and both of his arms wrapped around my waist. He was everywhere, and I was everywhere, and there was no way of stopping it.

He let one of his hands slide down my stomach, reach my belly button and then go even lower as he reached the lining of my jeans. He started to fumble with the button, and finally managed to open it. With a shaky hand he slowly started to move the zipper down. And then my cellphone rang.

I groaned out loud and tore my lips away from his. Come _on_, this was getting really annoying! This happened _every _time! Irritated I reached for the phone and put it to my ear, without moving an inch away from Jacob. Before I'd even huffed out a "hello", I could hear Alice's voice in the other end. Her voice was loud and clear and it filled the whole room.

"Nessie, if you sleep with Jacob now, you better not bring him home with you on Sunday because he wont be able to control his mind and then Edward is going to trace him all the way to Mexico"

I looked at Jacob. His eyes were sparkling. My thumb hovered over the end-button and I heard Alice sigh.

"I knew you wouldn't listen. Be safe then, and remember to use a cond..."

I hung up before she'd even finished, and the phone was on the floor. It would survive. I don't know how the hell she knew what we were doing, she sure couldn't see us. Blind-spots, remember. She must have seen dads reaction. Whatever. Right now I couldn't care less.

Jacobs lips were back against mine and I was just about beginning to enjoy it, when he suddenly pulled back and broke free from my lips.

"Wait. There's just one thing I need to do" He pushed himself up from the bed before he bent down and picked up my phone from the floor. "And I need this"

Huh?

I sent him a confused look, feeling a bit left and exposed.

"Just stay right there"

Jacob sent me a quick, amazed smile, before he opened the door and left the room. I was left on his bed, feeling absolutely confused. I shook my head trying to clear it.

What the hell just happened?

* * *

_A.N: Thanks for all the wonderful comments from my faithful reviewers. And to the rest; please consider leaving a review, it would make me very happy. Come on, give me some lovin'!_


	18. O great punchlinemaker

_A.N: __Thanks for all the amazing reviews. You even pushed over 300! I have the best reviewers, seriously. You rock my socks and my flip-flops._

_And to - gra - I'm sorry but I don't understand a word of Spanish so I have no idea what you were asking (it was Spanish, right? Or was it something else? See, I'm horrible) _

_Some of you had different suggestions to what Jacob is up to. Some thought he was going to propose, get a promise ring, flush the phone and some had no idea at all. None of you were right, but Kaplu and rosalirose were close though;)_

_And to the sensitives; In this chapter there's another grapefruit-smoothie alert with a touch of lime and strawberry. And maybe half a pineapple, some orange and a mint leaf. And a lemon-milkshake with a pink paper-umbrella on top._

_Yes, I'm a bit hungry. But consider yourselves warned._

* * *

**O great punchline-maker**

* * *

_I was just about beginning to enjoy it when he suddenly pulled back and broke free from my lips._

"_Wait. There's just one thing I need to do" He pushed himself up from the bed before he bent down and picked up my phone from the floor. "And I need this"_

_Huh?_

_I sent him a confused look, feeling a bit left and exposed._

"_Just stay right there"_

_Jacob sent me a quick, amazed smile, before he opened the door and left the room. I was left on his bed, feeling absolutely confused. I shook my head trying to clear it._

_What the hell just happened?_

* * *

I rolled over on my stomach and stared at the empty doorway where he'd just disappeared. Why would he just leave? Now? What was he doing? Was he going to call someone?

_Now?_

I heard him open the front door, even though he was still just wearing boxers. I briefly thought he was going to phase to talk to the others in the pack, or I dunno, ask for advise or whatever. The thought made me shrink out of embarrassment. Surely, he wouldn't do anything like that would he_? _Not _now_?

_NOW_?

But then then the front door closed again and I heard his silent footsteps as he walked back towards the bedroom. He appeared in the doorway and stood there just looking down at me as if he couldn't really believe I was actually there.

I noticed both of his hands were empty.

"What did you do to my phone?" I asked.

"I threw it out"

"You _threw _it out? It's raining outside!"

"I know" he smirked, and walked over to the bed. He laid down beside me on his back, and just looked at me. He had the same amazed look in his eyes as before.

"Cellphones are normally a bit sensitive to water" I noted dryly.

"I know that too"

"Did you ever consider just turning it off?"

"I really enjoyed seeing it disappear into the distance"

He chuckled and I couldn't manage to hold a straight face any longer. Alice would be delighted to find a new phone for me anyway. And at least now we wouldn't get interrupted.

"I'll buy you a new one." Jacob leaned forward and kissed my lips softly, wrapping his arm lightly around my back. "Or maybe not. Maybe you're better off without a phone. It really is a disturbing, annoying, little thing"

Well I could agree on that.

"But how on earth are you going to call me then?" I teased, as he leaned closer to kiss my ear. He had been the one insisting that I got a phone in the first place.

"I'll buy you a phone with a secret number" he murmured, placing a tender kiss right under my earlobe. "that only I know about"

"Making sense" I mouthed, knowing he was just joking, as he leaned back to kiss me again.

This kiss was slower, calmer. Still, somehow that made my heart flutter even more than before. I rolled over on my back, with him halfway on top of me. We just lay like that, kissing, for a long time.

When I let my hands wander down to the elastic band of his boxers again, he pulled back just a little bit.

"Ness" he whispered, his voice husky.

I tilted my head to the side and just looked at him. Did he not want me to do that? Jacob studied my expression before he took a deep breath and brought his lips back to mine. He tightened his arms around me and closed the remaining distance between us.

He brought his hand up to my cheek, and then let his fingertips make a featherlight trail down my neck and over my collarbone. He continued with tracing his fingers down over my breasts and down my stomach. His lips never broke away from mine and I shuddered under his touch. His fingers fluttered down to the lining of my jeans, and then started to play with the button which he'd already opened.

Very slowly, and so light he was barely touching me, his fingertips started to move downwards. Past the button, reaching the line of my underwear. His fingers paused there, fumbling a little bit, but he didn't go further down. I noticed my whole body had turned stiff with anticipation.

Jacob noticed too.

"Ness" he said again, and pulled back to look at me. His hand inched back up. When his eyes met mine, they were careful and understanding. He thought I'd wanted him to stop.

I put a hand against his cheek, half because I didn't know if I could find my voice right now, and half because I didn't think I would have the guts to say this out loud.

_Don't, _I thought. _Don't stop._

He eyed me for a second, and I almost laughed at the incoherent look upon his face. He looked as though he couldn't quite believe this was real.

His lips crashed back down on mine and he kissed me deeply without holding back, as if he just couldn't help it. I wrapped my arm around his neck and held him there. After a little while the kiss grew calmer, and his hand started to inch downwards again. He reached the lining of my underwear, and paused briefly before he slowly slipped his hand underneath. Then he stopped, keeping quite still, and broke free from my lips.

"Are you sure this is okay?" He searched my eyes.

I just nodded and reached up to his lips again. I wasn't sure if I was able to say anything right now. Slowly he started to move his fingers up and down. A little sound escaped my mouth and his grip around my neck tightened. He continued moving his fingers up and down against me, and the feeling of it was making my toes curl. I realized I was squeezing his arm, and I was tightening all the muscles in my body. I tried to relax but it was simply impossible. He was good.

My uneven breaths were getting out of hand, and I think he must have noticed because he increased the pace with his fingers. He tried to move his hand further down, and grunted a little bit out of annoyance when my jeans wouldn't let him.

I really hate jeans. I'll wear skirts for the rest of my life.

I arched my back a little bit so that he could remove my pants, and he did. He had to use both hands to do it, but at least his lips were on mine still. I heard the silent thud of denim hitting floor. His hands were back on me the next second, moving up my stomach to wrap around my bra.

He pulled back and tugged a little, silently asking me if he could take it off. I put a hand on his cheek to let him know exactly how okay it was. His hands slid around me and unhooked my bra, and the next thing I knew was the sound of fabric hitting on the floor as it followed straight after my jeans. His lips pulled away from mine, and I opened my eyes to find him watching me. I started to feel a little shy, but then his eyes turned back to mine and the look on his face was filled with adoration.

"You're beautiful" he whispered. He moved his hands up to frame my face, and he didn't need my abilities for me to know exactly how he felt right now; it was painted on his face.

I reached up and kissed him again, letting my hands wander all the way down his body to the lining of his boxers. I played with the elastic band, and slipped my fingertips under the hem. He didn't pull away this time, but continued to kiss me. He let his fingertips trace down my neck and flutter over my breasts. He drew in a sharp intake of air as his hands touched my bare skin.

I inched his boxers downwards at the same time his palms pressed gently against me. I inched his boxers down some more, before I managed to pull it down completely. His lips lunged for mine then, crashing against me, making the world swirl. I felt him move a little bit and then I heard the soft thud of a pair of boxers hitting the floor. I sneaked a glance down but quickly looked up as I felt blood rush to my cheeks. Two words were left ringing in my brain; _woah _and _ouch. _I didn't even know if that qualified as worlds, but didn't waste any time thinking about that.

Jacob moved his hands down my stomach and reached the lining of my panties, playing with the fabric before he gently inched it down. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him remove it completely. His fingers fluttered back up between my thighs and I shuddered all over as he touched me. I kissed him hungrily and reached out to his waist to pull him closer. Then I gathered my guts and wrapped my hand around him.

He groaned out loud and tightened his grip around my waist. I started to move my hand as well, but after just a few seconds he put his hand around my wrist to stop me. He pulled back and I opened my eyes to look at him. His eyelids were heavy and his breaths were shaky and uneven. He looked down at me with a loving look.

"You know, we don't have to do this" he whispered. "We don't have to do anything"

"I know" I whispered back. "But I want this." Then I hesitated one beat. "Don't you?"

He laughed a little bit, and sent me a sincere smile. He seemed unable to answer for a second. When I looked down, I realized what he wanted was quite obvious.

"Yes" he finally managed to say. "But only if you do too"

I dragged him closer and pressed my lips to his, and felt his chest shudder under my fingers. Then he pulled back just a little bit and let his arm fumble around behind him while he continued to kiss me. He managed to open the bedside drawer and then pulled out a little blue thing. He fumbled a little bit but finally managed to open the wrapping. Then he reached down and slipped it on.

He placed himself on top of me, resting his weight on his arms. My heart was thundering in my ears, and my breaths were uncontrollable. But then I looked into his eyes, and I knew he felt exactly the same way.

"I've never done this before" he told me nervously, his voice barely a whisper. He sent me a nervous look and I felt my heart warm all over.

"Me neither" I smiled, and put a hand on his cheek. He still looked nervous. "You're over-thinking it, Jacob." I said. I wrapped my hands around his face and kissed him tenderly. I let him into my mind so that he could hear and feel everything I thought and felt. I was nervous too, hell I was_. _But then again, this was Jacob. My Jacob. How could this not be right?

He lowered himself over me, and I felt his nervousness slowly drift away together with mine. I looked up at him, and suddenly this seemed just as natural as anything. I wrapped my arms around him, and felt him press into me.

I had been right in my two first choices of words. _Ouch. _I heard Jacob take a sharp intake of breath as he saw my face.

"Should I...?" he began. His voice was husky.

"No" I said, opening my eyes. Apparently I had shut them. "It's okay"

He sent me a doubtful and worried look, but I pressed myself up against him, urging him on. One of his hands grabbed mine, and held it pressed against the pillow. My fingers entwined with his. He started to move his hips against mine, slowly and gently at first. He pressed his lips against my closed eyelids, wanting to take the unpleasantness away. When he saw I really was fine, he started to increase the pace. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before. And after a little while, my second word came true as well. _Woah. _

Our breaths were getting more and more ragged, and his lips never left mine. I was beginning to enjoy it, enjoy it immensely actually, and wound my hands up to wrap around his neck. By doing this, I also unintentionally let him know exactly how I felt right now. Jacobs grip around me tightened. He broke away from my lips and buried his face in my shoulder, his breaths hot against my ear. And then, with a final thrust he tipped over the edge and into his own happy moment. He groaned out loud and started to shudder all over, a tremble running through his body. His whole body slumped over mine. I wrapped both of my hands around him, holding him there.

After a little while he got his body under control, and managed to pull back to look at me. His face was completely relaxed and he sent me a hazy smile. He leaned down and kissed me deeply, and I softly stroked his cheek with my palm. My body had this strange, tingling feeling all over, and I felt perfectly happy. My stomach was propped with butterflies. Not nervous, but happy.

"I love you. " Jacob whispered, looking into my eyes. Then he leaned down to rest his head by my neck. "I love you, I love you, I love you"

"If you say it when I'm naked it doesn't count" I whispered, smiling. Actually, I couldn't make myself stop smiling.

He pulled back to give me a glance-over.

"Oh, it definitely counts when you're naked" he breathed, and I laughed.

We laid like this in silence for a few moments, having our own little moment of bliss. Jacob rested his head by my neck and I held my arms around him. I noticed my eyes were beginning to drift shut, and I was actually feeling tired. My body was completely relaxed and I wanted nothing more than to stay right here with Jacob. We lay there, listening to the raindrops landing on the roof, and I felt more loved than I'd ever felt. My mind started to drift off into sleep.

"Nessie?" Jacob pulled back to look at me to see if I was asleep or not. His voice pulled me back into consciousness, a bit unwilling. It felt so good to just lay here with him. And I was sleepy.

"Mm?" I didn't open my eyes, but tightened my arms around him.

"Did you...? Uhm...you know..."

I opened my eyes then, and looked at him blankly. He was looking at me with a nervous expression on his face.

"Did I what?"

"Oh crap"

He bumped his forehead into my shoulder, and then peeked back up with a look that was both embarrassed and apologizing. And then I understood. He wanted to know if I'd had my happy moment too.

"Oh" I said, trying to keep back a smile. "I don't know. I don't think so..."

He let out a disgruntled moan and buried his face back in my hair. I drew my hand through his hair and let out a little giggle. He really was amazing.

"I _did_ enjoy it, though." I smiled. "Very."

I reached down to press my lips softly to his. Then I grabbed his arm and wrapped it around my waist before I turned around with my back to him. He scooped closer and wrapped his body all around mine. He rested his face by my shoulder and I felt him kiss the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes and hoped that this wonderful feeling would never go away.

I was halfway asleep again when Jacob made a sound behind me.

"Hm"

"What?" I said.

"I can feel your ribs" he mused

"Mm"

My voice was muffled with sleep. I could feel his fingers flutter over my side, touching the ribs that showed when I stretched like his. Normally you couldn't either see or feel them.

He didn't elaborate. I considered letting sleep get to me, but my curiosity didn't agree.

"That's a bad thing?" I prompted, without opening my eyes.

"No. It's just... you're so small."

"You saying I'm too skinny?" I joked.

"You're beautiful" he said seriously "Just don't disappear on me."

"I will make _you_ disappear if you don't shut up and let me sleep"

He chuckled.

"I would have been tempted to test that, had it not been that I think you might be serious."

"Oh, I am serious" I tried not to smile.

"Then why are you're the one who keeps talking?" The teasing smile was evident in his voice. A little smirk.

"I just thought I head some wining. It was probably just a dog."

"Meaning me?" he playfully nibbled my neck with his teeth.

"Yeah"

"I surrender, O great punchline-maker."

I giggled, and he continued. "Can you manage to fall asleep without saying anything else?"

I knew he was daring me because he knew I wouldn't make it. It's like when people ask you not to think about zebras. Before you know, your mind is full of them.

"Watch me" I said, sounding far more smug than I really was.

"I will"

We lay still for a few heartbeats. Then I opened one eye to peek at him over my shoulder.

"That sounded creepy"

"I knew you would say that." He laughed quietly and leaned down towards me. I felt his lips against my neck, and his embrace tightened. I sighed and snuggled closer. A few minutes past, and my mind was slowly drifting off to sleep.

"I win" I mumbled. I _hadn't _said anything else. Not much, anyway.

I could feel his chest vibrate with silent laughter and then felt his lips press softly against the nape of my neck.

"You just lost, honey."

* * *

_A.N: Sooo! No mean cliffhanger this time:)_

_Remember, Jacobs just a guy, and he doesn't have 100 years of self control. And Nessie can be pretty overwhelming with her gift and all. I didn't want their first time to be wall-shaking-lemon-dripping- one, because I don't think that's very realistic. And I don't want to turn this story into slippery lemonade (I'll rather stick to smoothies). But I'll give Jacob a chance to make up for it...;)_

_Just a heads-up; I probably wont be able to update again until the end of next week. Until then: let me know what you think!:)_


	19. Studying the treetops

**Studying the treetops**

* * *

I woke the next day with a smile on my face. Jacob was still wrapped safely around me, his arm holding me to him and his fingers entwined with mine. He was sleeping steadily.

I realized that for the first time in my life, I was waking up with Jacob next to me and we were both naked. My smile widened into a grin. Damn. We'd had sex. My stomach filled with butterflies when I thought about last night. It had been perfect. He had been perfect.

I turned around to look at him over my shoulder. I felt my heart warm all over as I took in his sleepy face. Sweet thing. He really was adorable. Amazing. I didn't have words.

As I thought about last night, my heart would now and then ta-dump unevenly, sometimes taking a back flip out of pure joy. There really hadn't been anything that hadn't been perfect. True, it had hurt quite a bit at first. But he had been so gentle and sweet that it had erased every unpleasant feeling, and then it had gradually turned into to something good.

Jacob let out a little snore behind me and I giggled. My mood was definitely on the bright side. I eased myself around in his arms so that I could face him, and wrapped my arm around his waist. I started to stroke my fingers up and down his back in soothing movements, and then leaned forward to rest my head under his chin.

I filled my lungs with his scent and his arms tightened around me as he started to wake up. I continued to stroke my fingers against his back, and then felt his lips press against my forehead. I leaned back to look at him, and the look he sent me made my knees shiver even though I was laying down, and that says a lot.

"Hi" I whispered.

As the memories of last night fluttered back, my stomach became all butterflied again. Jacob didn't answer right away, but reached out to place a tender kiss on my lips.

"I want to wake up like this" he started, looking down at our entwined bodies, "every single morning with you beside me"

His voice was husky and warm. I realized I must have been smiling like crazy, because his face broke into a grin a well.

"Did you sleep well then?" I poked his nose with mine.

"Very" he grinned back "Did you?"

"I did" I reached up to plant a soft kiss on his mouth. "But now I think I'm up for a shower"

"And leave me here all by myself?"

"You'll manage" I smirked.

I eased myself out from his arms and sat up. And then I realized I would have to cross the room naked. My clothes were spread around all over the place and I wouldn't be putting then back on anyway so there was no point in taking them with me. Suddenly for some weird reason I felt a bit shy.

I looked down at Jacob beside me. He was staring openly at my breasts. I playfully smacked his shoulder and burst out laughing when he looked at me. His expression was the same as on a kid caught with his hand in the cookie-jar.

I leaned down and kissed him, and his hands were on me immediately. I laughed as I eased myself away from his hands. He made a grumbling little sound. I looked down and briefly thought I could just wrap the covers around me on the way into the bathroom.

My thoughts must have been very obvious on my face, because Jacob leaned back in the bed, taking the covers with him.

"Oh no" he said. "If you're leaving me here all alone, the least you could do is to do it naked"

And then he put his hands behind his head, stretched back into the pillows and looked at me expectantly. I couldn't help but laugh, and he grinned back. I had a feeling there was going to take a lot to take that smile off my face today.

The laughter erased the shyness, and I pushed myself up from the bed. I walked around it, his eyes never leaving me. I playfully pinched his toes as I passed his feet, and he chuckled.

I went out into the hallway and into the bathroom. Right before I closed the bathroom door I'm quite sure I heard him let out a _"Wooh!"_ and a muted thud as he let his head fall down back into the pillows. Late reaction to it all I guess. I smiled. I think I knew exactly how he felt.

I climbed into the shower and let the water run down my body. I was a bit sore. I wasn't sure if there had been blood, but I could feel a little stab shoot through me when I moved in certain ways. It would pass. And it was worth it. No doubt.

I found some body wash and a neutral shampoo and foamed me in. I thought about Alice. She would know now, I guess, based on what she'd seen of dad's reaction. She couldn't see us, thank god. I knew she didn't mind about this though, she had always been the open-minded aunt. No pun intended.

I winced as I thought about what she'd said about dad. That he would trace Jacob all the way to Mexico. Was she exaggerating? I didn't think so.

But dad wasn't...mad, was he? He couldn't be. He couldn't expect me to be two years forever. He must have known this would happen. Sometime. I wondered if my parents knew about last night. If dad had been there when Alice got her vision. I hoped not. Alice was normally very good at guarding her thoughts. I was good too, but she was better.

If they knew, I figured they would have called. To give us another talk, maybe. And then I remembered that my cell phone had suffered a horrified death due drowning. I smiled and washed out the rest of the shampoo from my hair, as the memories from last night once again started to flood back.

* * *

When I got out from the shower to dry myself up, I could hear some scrambling from the kitchen. Jacob was up. I wrapped the towel around me and shuffled back into his room to find some clean clothes. I poked around in his wardrobe and found a pair of my own knee-length sweats that I must have left here some while ago. I also found a t-shirt I knew was to small for him and a green flannel shirt.

I pulled on a pair of clean boxers (you know you're down and doing it when you're wearing your boyfriend's underwear) and got dressed. I went into the kitchen just as Jacob scooped some fried eggs and bacon from the frying pan and down on two plates. He'd made breakfast. Or lunch, rather, based on the late hour.

He put the plates on the table and went over to me to lift me up in a tight wolfhug. I swear I could hear my joints crack. While still holding me up in the air, he leaned back and planted a soft kiss on my mouth.

"You've made breakfast" I stated.

"You don't have to sound so surprised" he pretended to be offended but didn't manage. "Even I can cook when I'm hungry."

Just when he loosened his hold around me to put me down, my sore spots twisted inside me and I made a face. Jacob froze.

"What's wrong?" his voice was startled and filled with worry.

"Relax. It's nothing. Just a little sore"

He looked at me blankly for a couple of seconds before realization dawned on his face.

"Oh" he said, and carefully put me back down. "Is it very painful?" His whole face was painted with worry.

"No no, it's not painful at all. I'm fine" I smiled at him and sat down by the kitchen table in front of my plate. Jacob sat down opposite me but didn't eat.

"I'm so sorry" he said, looking down.

"What? No, Jacob, come on! Don't say that."

He sent me a insecure look through his lashes that clearly said "_but I hurt you"._

"I think it was wonderful last night" I said quietly, feeling warm all over as I thought about it. His face lit up.

"Really?"

"I already told you that" I laughed "Do I need to write it on my forehead?"

He grinned and grabbed the fork.

"I'm impressed" I said after a few bites. "This is actually quite eatable"

The food was good. He knew I was just teasing.

"I knew I could charm you with my cooking skills" he said, making me laugh.

He finished his plate when I was only halfway. He put his elbows on the table and looked at me.

"Did you really meant that?" he said quietly after a little silence.

"Mean what?"

"What you said about last night"

I looked up and smiled. "That part where I said it was wonderful and that I really enjoyed it?"

"You didn't say that you really enjoyed it". He paused with a smile playing on his lips. "Did you?"

I smiled and nodded.

"Did you?" I echoed his question and cocked my head to the side. "Enjoy it, I mean"

He chuckled a little bit before he answered. "Yes I did." he sent me a warm look. "It definitely wasn't like anything I expected"

Huh. That got me thinking.

"Expected? Like how you thought it would be?"

"Well, yeah." he shrugged.

"Do you mean because of the pack and all?" I wondered. "Since you can read each others minds, I mean."

He shrugged again.

"When you're a wolf you get glimpses now and then, from the others. We try to just ignore it, but still you pick up a thing or two, the basics, maybe a few other things"

Humph. I wasn't sure if I liked that. I knew I was being silly, but I still couldn't stop wondering what he'd caught glimpses of. Had he seen all the pack-girlfriends naked through the others minds? I didn't like it. Silly, I know, but still.

Jacob continued, as if he knew what I was thinking. "No one likes this, but we've grown used to it. There's nothing we can do to help it."

He drew his breath and sent me a shaky smile. "But none of the others could possibly have prepared me for this" he gestured with his hand between us, and his cheeks reddened just a little bit. "None of the others have girlfriends that can give a direct line to their feelings just at that moment."

I felt my face fall a little bit. Maybe he hadn't wanted me to do _that._

"No no" he hurried to say as he saw my face. " I liked it" A shudder ran through his body "You have no idea how much I liked it. To feel what you feel... to know that you felt good...I definitely liked it"

Jacob sent me another shaky smile, but then his face fell a little and he looked down. "But I guess it didn't exactly _help, _when I was trying not to screw it up as it was"

"Screw it up?" I repeated "What are you talking about?" He hadn't screwed up anything. Again, no pun intended.

"You know" his voice dragged a little bit and he still looked down at the table. He seemed embarrassed. "I didn't exactly make your day, did I?" he mumbled.

I understood what he referred to. He was embarrassed he that hadn't waited for my happy moment, and he was afraid he'd let me down somehow.

I didn't want any of that. I stood up, walked around the table and sat down on his lap with one leg on each side facing him. I put my hands on his cheek and dragged them through his hair, letting him into my mind.

"Don't say that" I murmured. "Last night was amazing. You were amazing. You couldn't have let me down if you'd wanted to"

And then I showed him how I'd felt when I woke up this morning, and how I'd felt before we fell asleep last night. And I showed him how it felt when we...you know, and I showed him how much I enjoyed it and how much I loved him.

His lips were on mine the next second, and when the kiss ended he rested his forehead against mine.

"Was that too much?" I asked hesitantly, listening to his uneven breaths. I didn't want to overwhelm him completely, but when I looked at him I was afraid I might have had. I knew my gift could be a bit much to handle sometimes.

To my surprise he started to laugh.

"Too much?" he said. "I love it when you do like that"

As he leaned closer to kiss me, we both heard the sound of running paws outside. I wasn't surprised really, the pack dropped by all the time.

"Looks like we've got company" I noted.

"Mmm"

He closed the distance between us and kissed me anyway.

"Jacob, you in there?"

I stood up from his lap as we heard the sound of footsteps on the front porch. The next second Embry popped his head in the door.

"And do we smell food?" Quil stumbled in behind him, and then they noticed me. "Oh, hey Nessie!"

They both got in and immediately crowded the kitchen. They'd both gotten so used to me staying with Jacob they probably didn't think twice about it.

"You cooking, Nessie?" Quil eyed the eggs hopefully.

"You can make your own breakfast" Jacob answered and threw the spatula at him.

"Breakfast? Seriously? I've eaten three meals today already"

I just laughed and started to pop eggs into the frying pan. They could probably eat a dozen or two.

"Hey! Nessie?"

I was interrupted when someone called my name from outside. It sounded like... Seth? I started to walk over to the front door, and Jacob followed. On his way he shoved Quil over to the stove, making me laugh.

We got outside and saw Seth appear through the lining of trees close to the house. We got over to him. He looked puzzled, and I noticed he was fumbling with something in his hands. As we got closer I realized he was holding my phone.

"What's your phone doing on the ground?" he asked. "It just started to beep, startled the hell out of me."

Oh dear.

"It...err, I just..must've...uhm...lost it" I stuttered, and to my own horror I felt a violent blush spread in my cheeks. I looked up at Jacob, silently begging him to help me out. He didn't meet my gaze, but was very occupied studying the treetops.

Helpful.

Seth looked at Jacob as well. And then he looked at me. And then back at Jacob again. And then I wasn't the only one blushing.

"Oh." Seth said, looking down. "I'll just...uhm...here"

He handed me the phone and I took it without meeting his gaze.

Luckily, Quil called for Seth just then, saying that if Seth didn't help he wouldn't get any food either. Seth fled inside. I turned over to Jacob and smacked his shoulder. When he looked down at me I could see he was on the edge of laughing.

"Thanks so much for the wonderful help" I glared at him.

He chuckled and then snorted.

"You know what? That phone of yours is seriously starting to pinch my nerves. It has been laying out in the rain for a whole night, and it still works"

True. My phone was a sturdy little thing.

"Are you going to try and kill it again?" I said, pretending to be offended. He had been the one insisting on me getting a cell phone In the first place.

"Maybe" he smirked, and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"You wont make it. You've already tried once"

"We'll see."

* * *

We all got inside, and it didn't last long before all the food had been consumed. The guys got up to leave, leaving the dished behind. Of course. Lucky me. But then Jacob had made me breakfast.

Quil stopped in the doorway on his way out.

"Are you coming or what?" he addressed Jacob.

Jacob looked over at me.

"Oh, just go" I smiled. "Looks like I have enough to do cleaning up after you guys". I nodded towards the tower of dishes in the sink.

"Forget those" Jacob walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "They'll clean themselves."

"You wish"

I stretched up on my toes to kiss him, and Quil had to call Jacob's name twice before we broke apart.

"I'll be back soon" Jacob promised and dived in for another kiss.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, come on you two" Quil grabbed Jacobs arm and dragged him along out the door. I laughed as Jacob sent me a longing look.

"Bye Nessie, talk to you later" Quil called out and grinned at me before he pushed Jacob out the door.

I listened to their footsteps as they disappeared into the forest, and then as it changed into the sound of paws. I grinned to myself. My wolf. I started to fill the sink with water and to arrange the dirty dishes. I was just abut to add some soap when a choir of wolves howling broke the silence.

I got instantly alarmed, but then I realized it was not a howl of anger or fear. It was not a warning or an argue either. They howled in a way that reminded me of a whistle, just like guys whistle when they're teasing each other. It was a whistle that clearly said "_Way to go, bro!"._

I felt a deep blush spread in my cheeks. I guess Jacob hadn't been able to control his mind for long.

Maybe it was a good idea that I didn't bring Jacob home to my parents tomorrow.


	20. Five hundred

A.N:

_This is a fruit salad. Fruit salad smoothie with a touch of lime and half a lemon._

_And just to answer a question from one of the reviews; right now Nessie and Jacob are at Jacob's place. Remember, Nessie walked over to his place in chapter 17 when her family left, and they've been there since._

* * *

**Five hundred**

* * *

After doing the dishes I spent about thirty minutes sitting on the kitchen table staring at the phone. I was trying to decide who to call first. My mom? My dad? Alice? If I called my parents first, the problem was that I didn't know how much they knew. About me and Jacob. And if they knew, I didn't know if they were angry or not. It would not be beyond my dad to test me, to get the information he wanted. He'd done that before.

If I called Alice first, I could ask her what to expect. The problem with this was if she answered the phone in the same room as my dad. She would probably be surprised when I called, since she couldn't foresee my actions, forget to guard her thoughts for just one moment and my dad would know everything. Right then. With me there on the phone.

What the heck.

I took the most cowardly solution and dialed Alice's number, praying she would be miles away from my dad right now. She picked up on the second ring.

"So now you want to talk to me!" she exclaimed before I'd even said "hello". She tried to sound stern but I could hear she was smiling.

"Hi, Alice. Are you home with Tanya an the others?" I asked carefully, trying to find out if she was alone or not.

"No, your dad's not here" She saw right through me. "I'm out hunting with Jasper, but he's not here right now so spill."

"Uhm" I said, not sure if I wanted to spill anything.

"He's not gonna be happy, you know" she noted dryly, and I knew she was referring to my dad. "In theory both Edward and Bella are fine with it but that dog of yours isn't very good at controlling his mind, is he?"

Her voice turned kind and warm when she said the word "_dog", _and I knew she meant it in the best way.

"Exactly what did you see?"

"It's a bit difficult to see clearly, since you two keep blurring up the picture. I can see different solutions, some tomorrow, some later on. It all depends on when you're going to bring him home. But your dad's reactions are the same."

"Mexico?" I asked weakly. She understood what I meant.

"More or less. It's not so much that he is mad, I think. It's more the surprise than anything else. Plus the fact that Jacob will keep imagining you naked"

"Alice!" My voice was high with embarrassment.

"That's not my fault!" she chuckled. "My own thoughts I can control, not his."

"Well, thanks for warning me, anyway" I said. "We'll survive. I hope"

"You will" Alice smiled.

"Say hi to Jasper from me"

I was about to hang up when she interrupted me.

"Oh, Nessie?"

"Yeah?"

"How was it?"

"Alice!" I exclaimed again, both indignant and embarrassed at the same time.

"I'll take it you liked it then" she laughed, and then she hung up. I shook my head as I put the phone back on the table.

* * *

I was debating with myself whether I would call my parents now or later when Jacob appeared in the doorway. My whole stomach filled with butterflies as soon as I laid eyes on him. I ran over to him, and he lifted me up and swung me around.

"I missed you" he murmured into my hair as he put me back down. My face turned hot as I remembered where he'd just been and who he'd been with.

"I heard some howling" I remembered, and my suspicions got confirmed when he sent me an apologizing look.

"I didn't think about it on purpose" he excused himself. "My mind just slipped. Sorry if you'd rather wish they didn't know. But I simply can't keep my mind off you."

"Yeah, about that..."

I grabbed his hand and dragged him with me into the kitchen. "Aren't you afraid?"

"Afraid?" He stopped me and spun me around to face him. He was frowning, and his eyes were alarmed.

"According to Alice, Mexico is getting a new inhabitant. You."

"Oh...that." he said, and to my surprise he just smiled. "I think your dad is just going to have to endure."

And then he placed one hand on each side of my hips and lifted me up to sit on the counter. His lips were on mine the next second, and he pressed himself to stand in between my legs. I automatically wrapped both my arms and legs around him, and he kissed me hungrily. My toes curled with anticipation by this completely unexpected move. He let his hands wander over my shoulders and down my sides. His lips broke away from mine only to plant a blazing trail of kisses down my jawline.

"You know..." he murmured, and his lips reached my ear. "since we've already done this once..." He kissed the soft spot under my ear and my back arched when I could feel his lips graze my earlobe. "I figured..." he let his hands wander down my sides and wrap around my hips, his thumbs stroking the lining of my sweatpants. "It really couldn't hurt..." He captured my earlobe between his teeth, and I gasped as I could feel him graze it with his tongue. "If we did it again." One thumb slipped under the lining of my sweats.

I didn't need more than that. I put my hands around his neck to yank his head up so that I could kiss him. He more than willingly obliged, and it didn't last long before my flannel shirt was on the floor. My hands roamed over his chest and reached for the lining of his sweatpants. He captured my wrist in his hands.

"Wait" he mumbled, never breaking his lips from mine.

I let out a little impatient whimper and felt his chest shake with silent laughter. He let his hands wanders upwards from my hips, and they slid under the t-shirt. He caressed his way up my stomach and then groaned into my mouth when he realized I wasn't wearing a bra. My hands inched back down to the lining of his sweats, but again he stopped me. Instead he slipped his fingers under the lining of _my _sweats.

"Oh, so that is okay?" I mouthed against his lips, and then felt his lips curl into a smile. He put one hand of the small of my back to hold me to him as he let his other hand slide down, pushing my sweats aside. I felt my body stiffen with nerves and anticipation.

Then abruptly his lips broke contact with mine and he looked down. When he looked back up his eyes were glowing.

"You're wearing my boxers" he mused.

"Well I didn't bring any underwear..." I told him, unsure where he wanted with this. He didn't mind, did he? But then he kissed me, deep and intense, and I realized he didn't mind at all. He liked it. A lot.

His hands started to stroke down the boxers I was wearing, and he reached the bare skin of my thighs. I clung to him, refusing his lips to go anywhere. This was almost unbearable. And new. Very new.

I felt him take a deep breath before he slowly pushed the boxers aside. I felt my body jerk when he touched me, and then he slowly began to move his fingers. I kissed him feverishly and was briefly glad he wasn't a normal human like my friends. I could squeeze his arm all I wanted.

A warm, burning, tingling feeling spread from his fingers and up my stomach and throughout my whole body. I tightened my fingers around his neck as he increased the pace. It felt so good and I never wanted him to stop.

To my great dissatisfaction he broke his lips away from mine then, and bumped his forehead against mine. He had his eyes closed and was gasping for air just like I was. I tried to bring my lips back to his but he didn't let me. He kept moving his fingers though, and increased the pace even more. He let his fingers slide further down and then slip inside me. I moaned and moved my hips against him, I couldn't help it. He continued to kiss me then, and his breath was just as ragged as mine. A shudder rippled through both of our bodies when his fingers reached a very particular spot.

And then I realized.

With my hands around his neck, he could see everything I thought, feel everything I felt. He felt what I felt when he did this.

Oh. The thought brought me so off guard I pulled back in surprise and just looked at him. He looked back with hazy eyes before removing his hands and putting my underwear back in place. I still had my hands around his neck, and I didn't remove them.

His eyes were heady-lidded, and I imagined I must look about the same way to him. I let him into my mind and showed him just one word: _More. _A sly smile twitched in the corner of his mouth, but he didn't touch me again. I reached up and tried to kiss him, but he didn't let me. I whimpered, and his sly smile widened.

"Did you like that?" he asked innocently, when he very well knew I had. Heck he'd felt it for himself.

He was teasing me.

I removed my hands from his neck and shut him out. Two could play that game. I leaned back on the counter and cocked my head to the side to look at him for a second. When I leaned back forward he thought I was going to kiss him, but I eased myself around him and crossed the kitchen.

"I'm tired" I announced. "I'm going to take a shower"

"Hey!" A big hand wrapped around my shoulder and spun me around. "You can't just do that" He had an amused look upon his face.

"Neither can you" I smiled. I looked down his body, and let my eyes linger a little by his sweatpants. I feigned a little sigh, sent him a sweet smile and then turned on the heel, leaving him alone in the kitchen with a poking problem.

* * *

He caught me as soon as I left the bathroom.

"That" he said and pressed his lips to against mine. "was mean"

"You asked for it"

Jacob wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up, only to carry me into his room. He laid us both down on the bed, him on top of me.

"Nessie ten, Jacob zero" I sang.

He shook his head. "Nessie ten, Jacob hundred."

"Oh? Remind me again how you got those hundred, I must have forgotten"

"I haven't yet" he smirked "but I will now."

Boy if he did. I'd gladly give him two hundred. His lips attacked mine and his hands fumbled their way down to continue what he'd started on the counter. He didn't pull away this time.

His lips never broke contact with mine, and I don't know how on earth he managed to get my sweats off or where they ended up. I felt greedy. His fingers were doing wonderful things and it felt like my whole body was on fire.

Somewhere during my very incoherent bliss, my t-shirt disappeared too. I noticed because his lips broke contact with mine for a few moments. He started to fondle and kiss his way down my chest and I felt my back arch completely on it's own. It made me think I could just lie here and relax and see what my body would do without even deciding to do it, and I giggled.

His lips were back against mine immediately. "What are you laughing at?" he mumbled.

"I don't think I'm on control of my body anymore" My voice came out shallow and uneven since he still hadn't stopped doing what he did with his fingers. Excellent way to prove my point.

I felt his lips curve into a smile against mine.

"Good" he growled, and the sound made me tremble.

I tugged at his sweats, and this time he let me. They disappeared somewhere too, but I had no idea where.

Jacob pulled away from my mouth then and just looked at me. His eyes wandered over my face a few times before they settled for my eyes.

"If I could only show you how amazing you make me feel" he said, and watched me with warm, happy eyes.

I shuddered. He was making me feel pretty darn amazing himself right now. I didn't really need to tell him that, since it must have been pretty obvious on my face. Jacob leaned down and kissed me lovingly while slowly gliding my underwear down. It disappeared along with the other clothes. Wherever that may be.

I reached my arm out and fumbled blindly around in the drawer of his bedside table, until I found what I was looking for. I quickly got it out of the wrappings, and Jacob snapped it out of my hands. He slipped it on before he laid down beside me on the bed. He put both his hands around my face before he kissed me again.

"You know how much I love you." he said.

I rolled on top of him and continued the kiss as I eased myself down on him. It didn't hurt one bit this time. He let out a strangled groan and pinched his eyes shut. I pulled back to look at him.

"What's wrong?"

You were supposed to do it like this right? Right?

Jacob let out another strangled noise.

"Nothing's wrong" he gasped and opened his eyes. "Far from it". And I realized he didn't feel bad at all_, _on the contrary, and I continued to move against him. It didn't last long before he flipped us both around though, so that he was on top of me.

"For your own good" he whispered and increased the pace.

This was different from last night A tingling feeling kept building up and building up inside me, and I ended up clinging to him. I tried to wrap my arms around his neck, but he pinned my arms back down against the pillows. He kept my hands there and didn't let me touch his face. Not this time.

His lips were on mine thought, and I only broke away from his lips when it felt so good I couldn't stand it anymore. I tilted my head backwards and floated on a wave of bliss as I tipped over the edge. After two more thrusts Jacob shuddered over me as well. I could feel his shoulders trembling.

We lay there for just a few minutes, trying to control our breaths. When I looked at him, he had a wide, smug grin on his face.

"Jacob hundred" he stated, content.

"Jacob five hundred" I corrected, and received a happy kiss in return.

* * *

_A.N: I'm very busy at the moment, so for a while now I don't think I will be able to update more than once a week, maybe two if I'm lucky. Just thought I'd let you know;) But I'll stick to the at-least-once-a-week-rule._

_It would make me very happy if you would consider leaving a review:) I totally depend on hearing your opinions, suggestions and encouragements. _


	21. Waves

**Waves**

* * *

Sunday morning my blissful dreams were interrupted by a loud, shrilling sound. I grumbled a little bit, wondering why on earth Jacob would put his alarm clock on to ring on a Sunday. I slipped my arm out from under the covers to reach blindly for the alarm clock on the drawer.

I found it and pushed the button, but the ringing didn't stop. Not before then did I realize that it wasn't the alarm clock ringing. It was my phone.

Jacob heaved around beside me in the bed and I opened my eyes to see him send me a slightly grumpy, accusing look. I couldn't help but laugh a little. He was adorable, especially when he was sleepy. I reached for my jacked that was spread out on the floor, and fumbled to ease the phone out of the pocket.

"I swear" Jacob mumbled and ducked his face back down into the pillow. "That phone wont live through the day".

I got hold of the phone and laid back down, and Jacob put one arm around me to pull me closer.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hi honey"

It was my mom. I jolted up into a sitting position. For some reason I actually felt guilt for laying here naked in bed with Jacob.

"Hi mom"

Jacob sat up beside me.

"How are you?" she asked. "Has something happened while we were away?"

I looked at Jacob at the same time he looked at me. _YES_, we both thought, and he sent me a little amused smile. Something major.

"Uhm, no. Nope. Everything is normal." My voice sounded terribly guilty and nervous.

"Good" mom replied, oblivious to my shaky reply. "I just thought I'd let you know we'll be home around seven tonight. Will you meet us at home then? We've missed you."

"Sure, I'll be there" I said, and hoped she didn't notice that I didn't include Jacob in that sentence.

She did.

"Jacob can come too, of course"

Jacob sent me a unreadable look, waiting for my answer.

"Sure, we'll be there." My voice was dragging. "See you then"

"Bye honey"

"Bye"

I was a coward.

Jacob laid down on his back and I laid down to rest my head on his arm.

"Mexico it is, then" he said. He didn't sound by far so nervous as he should. In fact, he was smiling.

"It wont happen" I insisted. "I wont let it"

Jacob just laughed. We lay like this for a few moments, both deep in though.

"Nessie?" Jacob said after a long silence. His voice was serious.

"Hmm?" my voice was sleepy and content.

"I just wanted to say...thank you"

"Thank you?" I opened my eyes to look at him. "For what?"

"Just...thank you for making me feel this good." He looked down at me and smiled a little. "These past few days...I haven't been so happy since.." His voice faded away, and I understood. He hadn't felt this good since Billy passed away. It had been nearly three weeks now. I knew Jacob thought about it a lot, even though he didn't say anything. I reached around him and hugged him closer. He rested his chin on top of my head and we just lay like that for a long moment.

* * *

We got up in the middle of the day. I watched Jacob eat breakfast and then we just went outside to take a walk along First Beach. We didn't talk much, we just held hands and strode slowly beside the water edge. I was thinking about what would happen when my family came home. I didn't really care if they knew, but what Jacob and I did was our own business. I was prepared to guess my father didn't agree.

Disadvantage to have a mind-reading father.; you couldn't keep anything to yourself. I could manage to control my thoughts for a while. Jacob couldn't. He was used to share a pack-mind with a bunch of guys and one girl. They tried to stay clear of certain thoughts, but they didn't keep secrets. And again, this was a bit major. To me at least. I squeezed Jacob's hand and he sent me a warm smile.

I remembered what Alice had said. Dad wouldn't be _angry_ through and through about this. But he would be surprised, because he all but expected to come home receiving mental images from Jacob, picturing what we'd been up to for this last few days. I flinched out of humiliation. Dad had always said Jacob was a loud broadcaster.

And dad's first instinct would be obvious: lunge for the wolf – the mortal enemy who keeps imagining the daughter in ways the dad don't want to see. Understandable. Normally they got along really well. They liked and respected each other. Not tonight, apparently.

Alice's words echoed in my mind. _"It's not so much that he is mad, I think. It's more the surprise than anything else"._

I stopped short in my tracks. Jacob was surprised by my sudden movement, and had to walk a step back to see what was wrong.

"I just got an idea" I mouthed, staring in front of me.

I flipped my phone open and dialed a number. Jacob frowned as he saw the number I was dialing. I put the phone to my ear with a feeling I was about to do something really, really stupid.

One ring. Alice had said it was the surprise. What if I didn't make it a surprise? It rang again.

What if I told him?

"Hi Nessie". My dad sounded pleased and a little bit surprised. "Is everything all right?"

"Hi dad" I said weakly. This was a bad idea. I looked up at Jacob. He looked confused.

"Nessie, is something wrong?" Dad's voice grew worried.

"No, everything is fine" I cleared my throat. "It's more than fine really. I've got something I need to tell you."

Jacob sent me a doubtful look, as if he thought I'd gone mad.

"Well" dad said patiently "What is it?"

The words got stuck in my throat. I couldn't say it.

"Nessie?"

"Jacob and I had sex"

Apparently I could. Oh my god, I'd just said that out loud. To my _dad._

I watched as Jacob's eyes grew wide with surprise, and he looked at me as if he'd just realized I _was _crazy. The other end of the phone had turned deadly silent. I decided to take advantage of that silence.

"I'm telling you this now because I know how you would react if you came home and found out about it"

The look upon Jacob's face had moved from surprise to excitement. His eyes were sparkling and he had a wide grin upon his face. He thought this was _fun. _Typical.

I continued; "I don't want you to go crazy and trace Jacob out of the county. So I'm being fair with you. And giving you time to think about this. Because you're just going to have to accept it. It's not my fault you're a mind-reader. Sorry". I don't know why I said sorry exactly, I just felt it was on it's place.

Still no reply. I waited. Jacob grinned.

Then my dad spoke; "When I spoke to you on Friday..." His voice was smooth like velvet. Too smooth. Dangerously smooth. "...you was honestly surprised when I brought up the subject."

I remembered that talk. It was when dad had carefully spilled the beans that they were going away for the weekend, all the while watching my reaction. He'd found he had nothing to worry about.

"Yes...?" I said carefully, unsure where he wanted with this. Jacob's face changed from delight to amusement. He hadn't known my dad had brought up anything with me. Dad continued in the same controlled tone:

"And now it has been less than two days – and you tell me this"

Aha. I knew where he wanted.

"Oh, stop being silly. It just happened, that doesn't mean it wasn't _voluntarily_". I hissed out the last word.

"You can get easily confused." His tone wasn't as perfect and controlled as before.

"Dad, come _on,_ we're talking about Jacob here! Jacob, not some random jerk! And I'm not two!"

"You're seven"

"That's a low blow and you know it!" I snapped.

As my voice had gotten louder, Jacob's grin had gotten wider. I sent him a glare.

"You said you would behave yourselves". Dad sounded almost like he was sulking, and I knew I'd won. The battle at least, not the war.

"And we didn't rob a bank, did we? Look dad, I have to go, we'll talk about this later okay?"

"We'll talk about this tonight" dad corrected, and the dangerous controlled tone was back. His words hung like a threat in the air as I put the phone back in my pocket.

I looked at Jacob and he was grinning from ear to ear. When he saw my face he burst out laughing.

"You should've...seen your...face right now" he pressed out between fits of laughter.

I kicked his legs and crossed my arms across my chest. I still wasn't sure if this had spared Jacob a trip to Mexico, but at least I'd tried.

"Oh, stop laughing" I said weakly, but couldn't help laugh a little myself. Guess it was kinda funny.

Jacob straightened up then, and pulled me close into his arms. He leaned down to kiss me, and just as his lips touched mine, my phone rang again.

Jacob grumbled as I pulled the phone out of my pocket. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to answer that. Before I could decide what to do, Jacob snapped the phone out of my hands. "This thing is going on my nerves" he said.

He looked at the phone. Then he looked at the waves crashing into the shore beside us. And then he looked at me.

"Don't you dare" I warned. "If you're moving to Mexico I'm gonna need that"

"You can come visit instead" Jacob said, before he reached his arm back and threw my phone into the foaming waves.

And the worst part is, while he did this, the only thing I could think about was how wonderful it would be to be alone with Jacob in Mexico.

"Now" Jacob turned back to me "Since we're not sure about what's going to happen to me after seven o'clock tonight..." he wrapped his arms around me. "It would make me happy if I could just have one phone-free day alone with you"

He reached down to kiss me and I immediately wrapped my arms around him. It sounded like a good plan to me.

"But first..." Jacob pulled back. "There's something I need to do"

And then he abruptly bent down, scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder before he started to jog into the water.

It looked like my phone wasn't the only thing getting wet today.


	22. Showtime

**Showtime**

_-JPOV_

* * *

_Here we go._

I poked Nessie in the neck with my snout. She turned to look at me for a second, a little smile playing on her lips. And then we both lunged into the forest at the same time. She landed on my back and I started to run in the direction of the Cullen house.

Time to meet the devil.

I felt Nessie tighten her legs around my waist, and then bury her fingers deeper in the fur around my neck. The movement did amazing things to me, and I couldn't help but think about how she looked when she...

_Hey, stop that!_

Quil's thoughts pierced through my daydreams, and I quickly snapped out of it. Quil was running on the opposite side of First Beach, near the cliffs; I could see the forest through his mind.

_Seriously dude, try to reign it in, _Quil warned me, but I could see he was smiling. _I' see you've worked out your _problems, _but still..._

_Oh, shut it. _I thought exasperated. Not one furry moment had gone by yesterday without me getting peppered with dirty comments about my...well...not my fully successful attempt to give Nessie a good time. The fact that I hadn't made her climax that first time had been rubbed into my fur like glue. I'd had my brain shoved with images of how well the other guys had made girls scream and writhe with joy. Didn't exactly help my self esteem, that.

But I'd made up for it with Nessie. Just the look of her on the counter yesterday, asking for more...It was without doubt the hottest experience of my life. I imagined the look of her in front of me, wearing my boxers, her top pushed aside, the feeling of her without a bra...

_Whoo! _Quil interrupted again. _That's hot, but hold it. Seriously._

I snapped out of it and tried to not think about Nessie-related things. I didn't success much.

As I tried to focus on other things, I became aware of two other brains present in our conversation. Seth and Leah. They were out running as well.

_Where are you going?_ Seth wondered, wanting to distract me from my newly found kitchen-experiences.

_Back to see her family, _I thought. _They're coming home today._

_Oh, _Seth thought, without giving it more attention.

Quil did. _Dude! He'd gonna get pissed!_

I could see Edwards face appear in his mind, and then heard Seth's brain sort of 'pop' when he realized what Quil meant. Leah said nothing, but I knew she was paying attention.

_Tell me about it, _I snorted. _This is going to get interesting. _

I replayed in my mind how Nessie had actually called Edward earlier and told him straight how things were. Quil burst out in amused laughter and I chuckled. That girl could amaze me any day. I accidentally slipped a few glimpses of what had happened later, and received a loud inwards '_HEY' _from Quil that made me snap out of it. Man, this was difficult! I couldn't blame Edward if he wanted to rip my head off.

I noticed Seth had tried to back away and not pay attention to our silent conversation. He didn't quite manage though.

_I'm out of here now_, he thought vaguely towards the rest of us. _I think I'll just go back home._

And then his presence disappeared and I knew he'd phased back.

_Poor kid, _Quil thought after him, and I could see he felt bad for Seth. Quil's thoughts then drifted off to Claire and how he looked forward to seeing her tonight.

Leah snorted.

_If you two are going to continue being all mushy, I'm out of here too, _she informed us. _Everything's clear, _she added, just to let me know she wasn't butting out on her patrols. The area was fine. No unwanted vamps.

_Hope you don't loose your head, _she thought in my direction, and smirked a little as she imagined Edward chasing me around. Then she faded away and phased back.

How considerate. I knew why she really was going out, though. I guess she wanted to check on her little brother.

Seth was...conflicted. I hadn't found out until yesterday, when we'd both been phased at the same time. When my control had slipped, when suddenly everyone knew about me and Nessie, his first reaction hadn't been like the others. He hadn't been amused, or teasing, or grossed out like the rest (Leah being the grossed out). He'd been silent and not happy. And when I focused on his carefully controlled thoughts, subconsciously wondering what was wrong, I'd seen it all.

He liked Nessie. _Liked _her. My Nessie. He wasn't in love with her, he looked at her like just a friend. But one day he had found himself wondering how it would be like if she looked at him the way she normally used to look at me. He'd noticed how her hair was gleaming in the sun, and how rosy her cheeks were. He'd thought of it as a crush . A tiny insignificant crush that would never happen. And he felt terrible about it.

One reason was that she was my girlfriend. My imprint. Not only me being the alpha, but me being his friend and big brother. Even in a non-wolf, non-pack, zero mind-peeking normal gang, that was kind of against the holy law. You don't look at your friend's girlfriend.

The other reason was that he was _her_ friend too. As she was his. They had developed a close friendship over the past couple of years, and he felt guilty about feeling that way about her when she didn't know and could never know. It wouldn't make a difference anyway, and he knew that.

As I saw all this I realized that it wasn't just her. He wasn't in love with her. What he really wanted was what we had, her and I together. He didn't necessarily want it with her, but he wanted it with someone.

There were several pack members who didn't have someone like I had Nessie, but then again there were quite a few who had. Sam had Emily. Quil had Claire, if on another stage in life. Paul had Rachel. Jared had Kim. Leah was busy being Leah. His father was gone, and now Sue had Charlie.

I had Nessie. His best female friend.

And Seth was left feeling a bit forlorn. Surrounded by and sharing brains with numerous of couples, I couldn't blame him. He'd been terrified that I would be mad at him when I found out. Of course I wasn't. He still felt guilty though, just for thinking about it. I was surprised he'd managed to hide his thoughts for so long, even if they were harmless and completely innocent.

Hell, he'd be better fit to meet Edward right now that I was, with a brain-control like that.

Quil had been silently listening to my train of thoughts without really being aware of it, and now he'd reached the forest behind his home. He was eager to get inside; he would be seeing Claire soon. He let me know he'd scented nothing out of the ordinary and that everything was fine as he slowed down his jog.

_And good luck,_he added sincerely before his presence disappeared as well.

I had nearly forgotten where we were headed, and now we were nearly there. Of course, my head (which had been nicely occupied with Seth for minutes) immediately filled with images of Nessie in my bed, Nessie naked in my bed, Nessie on the counter...

Oh hell. It should be criminal. OK. Keep control. Keep control. I sincerely hoped we were still out of super-creapy-mind-reading-range and focused on the ground in front of me and my own paws.

I stopped a little ahead of the main house, and Nessie got down. She started to walk in the direction of the house while I phased and changed. I caught up with her easily.

She looked nervous. I honestly couldn't get why she was chewing her nails out. It was a completely natural thing, and both Bella and Edward had expected this to happen. Someday. They'd talked to me about it for Christ sake. Bella had given me the Talk. Not the birds and the bees, obviously, even though that would have been hilarious too.

The thought made me laugh. Nessie looked at me as if I'd just peed on a fine piece of art. I stopped laughing and smiled at her instead. I grabbed her hand as we reached the front porch.

Showtime.

Edward and Bella were both in the living room as expected. Surprisingly Bella walked over to Nessie and hugged her, before she gave me a cold hug as well. This was normal. Edward settled with a 'hello'. He didn't look anything out of the ordinary either.

"It's good to see you" Bella told us both. "We've missed you"

Huh. I wondered what all the fuss had been about. Edward sent me a unreadable look, his jaw clenched. The rest of the house seemed empty. They'd probably fled the scene. Or they were hiding somewhere in the house. You could never tell with vamps.

"We wanted to talk to you about something" Edward said.

_You do, do you? Wow, I sure didn't see that coming. _How ironic. His mouth almost twitched into a smile. Almost.

I walked over to the couch and slumped down. Might as well get this over with. I looked expectantly at Edward, and he seemed almost amused. Again, almost.

This was going to be some talk, huh.

"Since you are still very young, we wanted to talk to you about what you said on the phone" Edward turned to Nessie. She must have made some witty remark about her age inside her head, because straight after Edward said: "But still, you're a lot younger than Jacob"

Sure, let them continue this conversation inside their _heads. _That'll teach me a lesson.

Edward's lips turned upwards upward again into the shadow of a smile.

"We knew this would happen eventually" he sighed. "Just not so soon"

That's all? No snapping? No head-rolling activity? Just a sigh?

Nessie could have spared the nerves. She did spare me a trip to Mexico, though, with that little phone call of hers. Edward sent me a sharp look.

"However" he continued " there are a few things we'd like to discuss"

_Is there more? _I thought sceptically. _More than two talks so far couldn't cover? _I doubted it. _This was more likely to be a replay. _

Edward smiled then.

"Maybe" he said. "But still"

Both Bella and Nessie eyed me curiously.

Nessie finally seemed to realize there was no danger, so she walked towards the couch and sat down beside me. As she did, her knee accidentally stroke past mine. The wave of heat that radiated from her made me shiver, and the touch, innocent as it was, brought back memories of her skin against mine.

And then hell went loose.

"That!" Edward burst out, and he was on his feet faster than I could say 'chill'. "That is what I just wont stand!"

He stood, glaring at me. Bella's head snapped back and forth to try and grasp what had just happened.

"I just wont tolerate it! I wont! Not my daughter. Anyone else, but not my daughter!"

I realized Nessie had turned all rigid nest to me. It reminded me of another way her body stiffened, and then Edward was nearly screaming with frustration. He gripped his head between his hands and forced his eyes shut as if _I _was the one inside _his _head and not the other way around.

I didn't get why he didn't leave my head alone. He could just butt out. Pull down the curtains, lock the door. It couldn't hurt.

"Believe me, I would, but you keep ringing the doorbell, calling to get in and you're _loud_!" he growled, his eyes still pinched shut. Bella looked even more puzzled.

I turned to look at Nessie. Even with a horrified look upon her face, she was beautiful.

Edward growled.

"What? I can't even think that?" I burst out, staring at him.

"If you only kept it at that, yes" Edward sent me a scowl.

Jeez, it wasn't like if I was thinking about what we did on the counter, or...

"Will you stop?" Edward tore his hair with his hands, staring at me with wild eyes. "I'm _this_ close..._this _close to..."

"What's going on?" Bella interrupted, her eyes moving from me to Edward. Luckily, Edward didn't answer.

I looked over at Nessie, who had already turned ten shades of red beside me. While looking at her my brain went numb, and I couldn't help but think about how amazing she was. The whole weekend had been amazing.

Edward literary whined, and I quickly looked away from Nessie. She was not the best way to distract my mind now. I looked around trying to find something harmless to think about.

The table flowers. Nice one. They were red and white. Completely harmless. But then the red color reminded me of Nessie's hair, and I remembered the contrast of her bronze curls as they fell down against her pale, naked shoulders...

Edward fumed with frustration and I swear I could see his fingers twitch. OK. Wrong distraction. The table. Safe. Smooth mahogany surface. It reminded me of the counter. Oh, dear counter.

"Jacob!" Edward yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

OK, OK. The pillows. I had pillows. In my bed. With her...

"Jacob!"

Oh come _on. _Fine. Food. I could think about food. Food was a safe subject. I was hungry. Maybe I would make some food later. I could make eggs. I'd made her eggs. Eggs and bacon. Right before we'd...

"Jacob!"

Holy shit, this was difficult. The rain. It was raining outside. I could hear the water thud against the roof. Water. Waves. Beach. Nessie in a wet t-shirt...

"That's it! Quit it!"

"Hey, I don't do it on purpose!"

This was bloody difficult for crying out loud. It was impossible to stop thinking about her.

"Do what?" Bella whined. Beside me, Nessie was red like the table flower.

"You wont think about this if you want me to let you into this house. Or let her into yours." Edward glared at me.

Nessie popped out of her embarrassment then.

"Let? LET?"

Uh-oh. For a second, I was glad I was not on the receiving end of that anger. Nessie was sitting straight now, and she was visibly fuming with anger. "You can't let me anything! I'm fully mature now and you can't _let _me or not _let _me anything!"

"Yes we can, Nessie" Bella said quietly.

"Not when it comes to Jacob! He is my _boyfriend, _and it's not my fault that you can read his mind." She turned to Edward. "So you can't _let_ me anything based on that!"

"On that part, I actually agree" Bella said, to my great surprise. I looked at her, stunned, but she was looking at Edward.

Edward continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You wont think of my daughter that way in this house! Not in any house. And if you can't help yourself, I'm going to put down restrictions!" He was literary growling now.

Nessie's eyes shot daggers at the word 'restrictions'. She was certainly not used to having restrictions. She glared at her dad, and right then I was darn glad I was no mind reader, because what she was thinking wasn't nice.

As I watched Edward fret and fume, he oddly reminded me a bit of Charlie. I guess it was because of their somehow simultaneous expressions. The typical Father-Daughter-Boyfriend expressions. I almost expected a vein in his forehead to pop out, or that his face miraculously would turn from pale white to angry red.

Edward abruptly stopped whatever he was saying, sending me a look between amusement and indignation as my comparison distracted him. He looked baffled, and as I watched him I could feel his anger fade. He looked over at Bella, and I could see him realize he was outnumbered.

I guess he was never actually mad before I entered and made him mad. Not intentionally, but still. Guess he didn't hate me, but maybe he didn't like me very much right now.

"I guess you're right" he said sourly.

This was one heck of a conversation.

"Can we go now?" Nessie asked, exasperated.

I turned to look at her, and saw that her blush had faded. Her neck was still a little red though, and the soft skin down her collarbone...

Edward made a noise halfway between a yell and a growl.

"Just go!" he said, exasperated too. He turned to glare at me. "And I swear, if you don't stop...I'm this close, _this_ close to..."

Nessie quickly stood up and grabbed my hands and then dragged me outside.

"I'll be home around 10!" she blurted out. She was halfway running to get us out of there, with me trailing behind. Bella sent me a bewildered look and Edward had pinched his eyes shut again.

Nessie dragged me outside and strode quickly towards the edge of the forest. I wasn't sure if she could see the fun part in this situation, but I certainly could. I was just about to burst out laughing when I heard Bella hiss from inside;

"We didn't even get to tell them to be safe!"

Edward answered in a sour voice.

"Don't worry. They are"

You really couldn't blame me if I couldn't keep from laughing after that.

* * *

_A.N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews:)_


	23. Surprise

_A.N: This story is now nearing the end. Only one chapter to go, in addition to this. And a little epoilogue, sort of. _

_The reason I'm a fast updater right now is purely because of Kaplu. If not for her, you wouldn't have read this until tomorrow!;)_

* * *

**Surprise**

_-NPOV_

* * *

It had been a disaster. An absolute disaster.

I got Jacob out of there as soon as I could. He kept laughing but I ignored him steadily. He phased and I jumped up on his back as he started running. I showed him where I wanted to go; the little clearing in the forest. It was safely out of hearing range.

I was fuming inside, mostly by embarrassment. Disaster. Horrible disaster.

The first thing I did when we arrived at the clearing was to jump down from his back and kick him in the leg. I put a bit more force into it than I normally would. He winced and sent me a confused look that clearly said "_Ow, why did you do that for?"_

"How could you do that?" I fretted.

My hands were visibly shaking. Jacob whined. At least he had brains enough not to laugh.

"My dad!_ Dad!"_I continued. "You could just as well give him a videotape!"

Jacob shook his head vigorously.

I let out a little groan. Even though I was mad at him I couldn't help but lean forward and bury my face in the soft fur by his shoulder. He turned around and nuzzled my neck with his snout. He yelped a little, saying he was sorry. I sighed.

"Don't worry" I said. "It's really not your fault"

He couldn't help what he was thinking. A normal dad wouldn't be a mind-reader. Jacob nuzzled my cheek.

"Change back" I demanded " I need to talk with you"

I took a step back with my hands firmly planted on my hips. I didn't bother to turn away; I had seen him naked before.

To watch someone phase was a strange experience. His whole frame sort or started to shrink down. His head became level with mine and then lower. And then the fur started to grow back in, the reddish brown color transformed into his normal skin tone, paws became hands and feet, his ears grew back into messy black hair and his tail disappeared.

All this happened in less than a second. Jacob crouched down, before he quickly stretched up. He stood there in front of me, naked, completely unabashed. I glued my eyes to his, not letting my gaze sway down his body. It must have been pretty obvious on my face though, because Jacob grinned and bent down to loosen the leatherband that fastened his shorts to his ankle.

I looked down his body then, and my head instantly filled with wonderful, warm memories. My stomach started to tingle and my brain got all fuzzy. I could feel the anger pour out of me.

The dim light from the setting sun made his russet skin glow as he crouched down in front of me. I followed the sunbeams with my eyes; over the defined muscles of his shoulders and down his back. The muscles were clearly visible on his stomach and back, and I got all fuzzy just by looking at him.

I loved his arms. I had a little thing for his arms. The firm shape of the muscles over his shoulders, his triceps and oh-so-wonderful biceps, down his elbow to lower arms where the veins were visible as he undid the leather band, it all ending in big, smooth hands.

He was incredible. It hit me how absolutely lucky I was for him to imprint on me, to love me. Loud thoughts or not, that didn't really matter. I felt warm all over when I thought about how this wonderful person loved me. And only me. Tiny, little insignificant me. Right now, I couldn't get to wrap my head around it.

Jacob straightened up (still very un-shy) while starting to put his shorts back on. All the memories from our week-end rushed back while I looked at him. I didn't blush, but I felt heat rise within me somehow.

"You're ogling me" he noted.

I snapped out of my little reverie and realized I was staring at him. I looked up to find him watching me with a smile that was both amused and smug. Had he noticed? Of course he had. I decided to ignore it.

"What were you thinking back there?" I said, trying to sound firm but didn't manage.

"I'm sorry about that" he sent me a honest and careful smile as he walked over to me and grabbed both of my hands in his. "It wasn't so bad as it may have seemed to you, I think. But this weekend has been sort of printed into my mind, Nessie. I simply can't just stop thinking about you. I tried. It's impossible"

I guess I should be irritated about that, but instead I was flattered. In some way I was happy that he was thinking about me that much. Big minus that my father could see those thoughts too, but that wasn't really our problem. As long as Jacob and I were good, the rest would be as well.

"It's okay, I guess I'm overreacting" I sighed, looking into his eyes. "Dad will get over it. At least they know now."

I looked down at our entwined hands, because I couldn't longer meet the intensity of his stare. He tugged my hands a couple of times, making me look back up. When I did he didn't let go of my eyes for a second. He eased his hands away from mine only to frame my face before he leaned forward and kissed me. It was serious, deep and filled with emotion. He didn't let go of my face, but buried his fingers in my hair.

When we broke apart we just looked at each other for a couple of seconds. I threw myself at him then, and he kissed me back just as forcefully. Somewhere during this we both must have lost our balance, because we both tipped over and fumbled around on the forest floor. We never stopped kissing each other though, and in lack of air we were both gasping after just a few minutes.

His hands were roaming up and down my sides the same way mine were roaming over his back. His weight was pressing me down into the cold grass and I didn't mind one bit. With his palms he started to push up my t-shirt, and then his fingers fluttered under it to caress his way up. It hit me that this was a pretty funny reaction to the supposed serious conversation we'd just had with my parents.

"Oh." My eyes popped open and I abruptly stopped kissing him. I moved my hands to his chest and pushed him over on his back. I sat up and looked down at him. He had a baffled look upon his face.

"We can't do this _now_!" I exclaimed " I have to be home in less than an hour!"

His look changed to confusion and a little bit embarrassment.

"Uhm, don't you think we've made it by then?"

My heart warmed all over for him then. "That's not what I meant" I said softly and laid down beside him on the grass. " I meant that I have to be home with thoughts pure as heaven in one hour, and they wont be if we do this now."

Jacob smiled.

"I thought you could control your thoughts" he teased.

"You have to give me some time to prepare" I leaned down and kissed him tenderly. " And one hour is just not enough"

He made a little grumbly sound, mimicking a wolfy whine.

"And that pout you've got there isn't helping" I continued.

"I'm not pouting!" he said, generally surprised. I just wrinkled my nose and nodded and then he was all over me once again.

* * *

I had to break free though, and not long after we were walking hand in hand back to the little cottage.

"Maybe I shouldn't bring you all the way to the door" I teased.

"I'll behave" he promised.

"I've heard that one before"

He was laughing as we reached the little clearing, and the little cottage appeared in front of us.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" he wondered.

"Not much. Maybe meet you" I said casually. Tomorrow was Monday and school-day. He grinned.

"Sounds like a good plan"

We reached the front porch and I turned around to kiss him. He stroke his hand across my cheek before he left.

I turned around and walked inside, kicking off my shoes as I went into the living room. My parents were there.

"Hi" I said weakly "I think I'm just going to bed"

I sincerely hoped they hadn't planned another talk for tonight. I was tired of arguing and besides I knew it all so they really didn't need to say anything. To my surprise they didn't object. When I hugged my dad goodnight, he whispered "You're still my little girl". I had been afraid he was still mad, but he smiled and didn't seem mad at all. I smiled back.

I was in bed and almost asleep when mom gently knocked on the door.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked quietly.

"Sure" I said, and she walked in and sat down on the bed beside me. I looked at her quizzically. She just smiled.

"I just wanted to make sure you're all right."

Great. More _talk._

"Mom, I'm..." I began, exasperated.

"I know you're _fine_, Nessie" She finished my sentence for me. "But are you happy?"

The question took me a bit off guard.

"Yes" I said honestly after thinking a little bit. "Yes I am."

"And you and Jacob are good together now, with everything?"

"Yes" I answered again. My eyes must have gotten a bit dreamy, because my mother started to laugh.

"Good. I never thought any less of him, or of you. Just promise me that you're being safe and sensible."

"Mom!" I buried my face in the pillows.

"You think this is bad?" she laughed "I had to have this talk with Charlie!"

"Really?" I had to peek up to see if she was joking or not. She wasn't.

"Yup, he made me spell it out for him." She shook her head and I giggled. Grandpa Charlie? I simply couldn't picture it. Mom leaned down to kiss my forehead. Her lips were cold as ice, but I was used to it.

"Promise to be safe and sensible?" she whispered.

"Promise"

She stood up and walked over to the door. With her hand on the door-lid she turned around.

"You know you can come to me with anything. Anything at all. And if you don't want anyone else to know..." She tapped one finger to her forehead. "...this is a safe place."

That was true. Not even dad could get in there unless she wanted him to.

When she left, I realized this night hadn't become a horrible disaster anyway. I smiled into the pillows. Everything had actually turned out quite good. I let my mind wander, and my thoughts landed on Jake and how he'd looked in the little clearing right now. With the sun gleaming of his skin, over his arms and shoulders and back...

I heard my dad sigh somewhere in the house. Ops. _Sorry. _I think I might hear him chuckle a little bit, but then again, maybe not. Maybe it was just my wishful thinking.

* * *

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god"

Joan was practically tearing her hair out beside me.

"Relax" I told her. "I don't see the problem.

"Of course you don't. You have a _boyfriend. _You two are practically married. An I have _nothing to wear!"_

She had a date. Tonight. And she was nervous. Like hell.

"Isn't this supposed to be fun?" I wondered.

"_FUN_? This is a nightmare!"

She hadn't been on a date for a while. Not because she wasn't attractive and likeable, but she was picky, Joan. She'd just been asked out by a guy in her English class. Movie, maybe dinner in Port Angeles. Tonight. Fun, I thought. Not apparently.

"I have nothing to wear I have nothing to wear I have nothing to wear I have nothing to wear" she fretted. "You _have _to help me"

"I dunno about me..." I said. "But I have a sister that loves to play dress-up"

In the public eye, Alice was my adopted sister.

"Isn't it rude to ask her?" Joan wondered, peeking up from behind her fingers which she had just buried her face in.

"Rude?" I laughed. "To her this is a dream come true."

"Really?" I could detect a faint hope in her voice.

"You'll be a gift from heaven. She loves this."

"As long as she doesn't dye my hair pink, I'm all in"

I laughed. Joan had pitch black hair that was cropped short in the back. She never wore pink.

"She wont. I think. You can join me home after school."

And so she did. We drove together in my car, and I promised to drive her back later. We reached the main house and walked in.  
_I've got company, _I thought, just in case my father was in here somewhere. Not that it was necessary to alert anyone. They could smell her and hear her from miles away. We'd been chatting all the way down the driveway too.

And Alice would know of course. She met us in the living room. Her face was already transformed into one of pure joy, and she greeted Joan like they'd been best friends forever. Maybe I should have warned Joan that Alice could be a bit overwhelming. I introduced them to each other and then explained the situation to Alice. As if she didn't already know.

"Seriously, you don't have to" Joan tried to excuse herself. "I mean, if it's too much trouble..."

"Oh no, I wouldn't miss this for anything" Alice beamed, before she grabbed Joan's hand and dragged her towards the stairs.

I followed a few steps behind. Joan would never know what hit her.

One hour later I was sitting on a stool in the upstairs bathroom, watching Alice work on Joan's hair like the was her mission in life. Then I heard muted thuds of running paws approaching down in the forest outside. It was probably Jacob.

"I'm just going to make a phone call" I said and stood up. (Hey, what else could I say? "Excuse me, I think I can hear my boyfriend running in the forest outside. Oh, and he's a wolf". Don't think so.) Alice winked at me before she continued to chat happily with Joan.

I went outside to greet Jacob, but was surprised to see Seth walking out of the forest.

"Hi Seth!" I called out happily. It had been ages since the last time I'd seen him.

"Oh, hi" His whole face broke into a smile as he saw me. "How you doin'?" Then his smile faltered a little bit and he looked around. "Is Jacob here? I need to see him."

"Thanks a lot!" I pretended to be offended. "I thought you was coming to see me, but _oh no._" Then I added more seriously. "I guess he'll be here soon. What's up?"

"There's no big deal, just some pack stuff" Seth said, looking down at his feet. He seemed almost nervous. Odd.

"Is something wrong?" I wondered.

He looked up then, and seemed honestly surprised.

"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong" He smiled at me, and his gaze lingered on my face just a little bit longer than normal.

"Nessie?" I heard Joan's voice from behind me. "Oh, there you are"

She walked over to me and Seth. "See, I'm all done. What do you think? It's not too much is it?" She spun around on the spot beside me, showing me the outfit Alice had given her.

"It's great" I said sincerely. Of course it was. Then I realized she'd never met Seth. "Oh, this is Seth by the way, he's a friend of mine" I gestured towards him. "Ans Seth, this is Joan. We take classes together"

"Hi" Joan politely extended her hand towards Seth. "Nice to meet you"

I couldn't help to notice a slight admiration in her look as she appraised him with her eyes. Yeah, he was muscular just like the others wolves, I guess. And he wasn't wearing a shirt, of course, so it was fairly visible. He was definitely good looking, even if I didn't see him that way.

I noticed Joan's smile falter a little bit and become unsure.

"Uhm. Nessie?" she half whispered towards me, still looking at Seth. "Why is he looking at me funny?"

I looked over at Seth then, and realized he was staring at her. His eyes were glued to her face, almost bugging out. What was wrong with him? His eyes were wide and his face completely blank as he drank her in with his eyes.

Joan shifted nervously next to me and slowly lowered her hand back down. A heavy silence was staring to build up, but Seth didn't even seem to notice. He stared at her like he'd never seen a girl before.

_Like he'd never seen a girl before. _

Like he'd never seen _anyone _before.

_Oh crap. _


	24. Like a dog

_A.N: Heads up; this is the final chapter to this story. But I will post a little epilogue. Or more like a small later-chapter. Sort of._

_One of my reviewers guessed something that would happen in this chapter a little while ago. We think alike!;)_

_Oh, and before I forget. There's a smoothie-shot with some parsley and another mint-leaf dipped in lemon hidden somewhere in here. Just so you know;)_

* * *

**Like a dog**

* * *

_Joan shifted nervously next to me and slowly lowered her hand back down. A heavy silence was staring to build up, but Seth didn't even seem to notice. He stared at her like he'd never seen a girl before. _

_Like he'd never seen a girl before. _

_Like he'd never seen anyone before. _

_Oh crap. _

* * *

This couldn't be happening. Not Joan. Not Seth. What? I couldn't believe it. I'd never seen anything like this before, I'd never really seen it happen before my eyes. Wait, that wasn't true. I had. But that had been with _me. _I hadn't seen it happen with two other individuals. So I couldn't know this was it. But some place, deep inside me I knew it was.

The silence stretched on and on. I couldn't break it. I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to say. Joan shifted her look back and forth between me and Seth. I just stared at Seth who kept staring at her. His facial expression had turned into admiration. And by admiration, I mean utterly affection and adoration. And that was a heavy understatement.

He looked at her the way _Jacob _used to look at _me._

Just then I heard the sound of thudding paws, and I wished with all my heart it was Jacob and that he could come and fix this. The thudding paused, and then I could hear the sound of running footsteps.

I turned around to see Jacob appear behind the trees waring his usual cut-offs. As soon as he saw me, his face transformed into a smile. I had no idea what my facial expression was, but as he took in my face his smile faded and became a frown. He hurried over to me, never letting his eyes off my face.

When he reached me, he grabbed my arm and was about to ask what was wrong. I just nodded towards Seth and Joan behind me. Joan was eyeing us, silently begging us to tell what was going on. She kept giving Seth uneasy glances.

Jacob looked from Joan to Seth. His eyes lingered on Seth for a long time as he took in the situation. And then he looked back at Joan and then back at me again. And then he grinned. A wide smile spread across his face and his eyes twinkled as he understood. Now I was the one staring.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"Hi Nessie, Joan" he said casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"Hi Jacob" Joan said, still eyeing Seth nervously.

"Hey, you!" Jacob said towards Seth, and lightly punched his shoulder. "It's not polite to stare"

That punch seemed to be exactly what Seth needed. He snapped out of it and blinked a few times. His eyes darted over me and Jacob before his attention turned back to Joan. Jacob's grin widened impossibly.

"What?" Seth said. His voice was dreamy.

"I said, it's not polite to stare."

"Oh" Seth said then, as he realized what he'd done. "Sorry about that." He reached out a hand to Joan. "Nice to meet you too"

She looked really relived and shook his hand. Jacob chuckled in my ear and even Joan smiled nervously. The relief to escape his stare was painted on her face.

"Wow" she said as she let go of Seth's hand. "Are you two related or something? Your hand is just as warm as his." She nodded towards Jacob.

"We're not related" Seth answered immediately, smiling. She was asking for something. Now he would answer. Of course. "But we're not far form neighbors though. I live down in La Push too"

"I figured" Joan seemed relieved he was finally talking, and threw herself out in the conversation, arms and legs. I let them talk and grabbed Jacobs arm to drag him a little bit away from them.

"What the hell just happened?" I hissed and spun around to face him. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"That's obvious isn't it? He imprinted" Jacob sounded delighted.

"How did that happen? Why her?" I cast them a glance over his shoulder.

Jacobs smile fell a little as he took me in.

"You don't like it" he said thoughtful. It wasn't a question.

"It would have made this hell of a lot easier if he didn't!" I huffed. Jacob's eyes narrowed and he continued to study me. His face became more and more thoughtful and his lips tightened.

"Why are you so happy about this?" I asked him. When he'd first found out he'd looked like a kid on Christmas Eve.

"Well" Jacob looked down to his feet, avoiding my gaze. "Seth had a hard time lately. I don't see the problem" He shrugged.

He still didn't look at me, and my eyes narrowed. What did he mean Seth had a hard time? I had a feeling there was something he didn't tell me. I was just about to fire several questions to find out what he was hiding , when Jacob looked up.

"Why _don't _you like it?" he asked. His voice was harsh, and he stared at me with a tight look upon his face.

"_Why?_" I burst out, before I lowered my voice. "Why? Because she is my _friend. _And now he's going to tell her _everything! _And then she'll know. About him, about you, about the pack, about my family and about _me." _I gazed up into his eyes and my voice turned weak. "She'll know I've been lying to them. About me. About everything. All the time."

While I spoke, Jacob's eyes softened. His eyes turned understanding and I thought I could detect a glimpse of...was if relief? He moved closer to me and wrapped both his arms around me.

"We all have to do that" he said softly, looking down into my eyes. "She'll understand that"

I sighed and looked over to the other two. They were now in deep conversation. _'It's difficult to resist the adoration' _I remembered Jacob had told me once. I guess it was. Heck, I knew it was. I'd been there.

"But you don't have to worry about that now" Jacob leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "She doesn't know anything yet"

That was true. But she would though, someday. I wondered how she would take it. How do you react when you find out one of your best friends has been lying to you about the fact that she is a half vampire, only seven years old, her parents are the one everyone thinks is her brother and sister, both stuck in their teens, and her boyfriend is a werewolf and the alpha of a pack. Oh, and sometimes she feeds on animal blood and kills deer with her teeth. Totally normal.

Not that I wasn't happy for them. I knew Seth had wanted something like this to happen. He'd told me. And for Joan; I wanted nothing but the best for her. Except for Jacob, Joan and Seth were my best friends.

In two very different worlds.

"Let's go inside" Jacob wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we started to walk in the direction of the house. I looked over my shoulder. They were still in deep conversation. Joan had a flattered look upon her face.

I guess she wouldn't be going on that date tonight after all.

We walked inside, and I found both my parents in conversation with Alice and Jasper. My mind was too filled with my friend imprinting on my friend no notice anything else. I slumped down on the sofa and Jacob sat down beside me.

"Oh." Dad looked amused as he read my mind. "I guess that changes things."

"What does?" Mom looked back and forth between us.

"Seth imprinted," dad explained.

Mom looked puzzled for a minute before she seemed to understand.

"On her?" she smiled, and I knew she was referring to Joan. "I didn't see that coming"

Hah. Me neither, that's for sure.

Jacob wrapped his arm around me, and when I looked up at him I found him watching me with content, warm eyes. I rested into him, and his arm tightened around me as he kissed the top of my head.

It hit me that this was the first time since that terrible encounter with my parents yesterday that Jacob and my dad were in the same room. I guess I really shouldn't be sitting this close to Jacob. Not because my parents minded, but because after what I'd seen yesterday, Jacob's thoughts weren't exactly pure as polish when we sat this close. And I guess my dad _would _mind that. In fact, it was a miracle he hadn't already started the screaming and hair-pulling.

I looked at Jacob. He was watching me with a warm expression. I looked at dad. He seemed normal. Had Jacob's mind-control improved drastically over the past 24 hours? Or had he simply stopped thinking about me? I looked back at Jacob. Still warm look. And I looked back at dad. Still normal. And I didn't understand.

But when I looked over at my mom, she winked at me. And then I understood. Of course. She must be shielding Jacobs thoughts. No wonder dad seemed relaxed. He didn't have to be listening to Jacob's thoughts about me at all.

"I figured this was the best solution" my mom smiled "For now, at least"

"And I certainly don't mind" dad said. "You wont believe how much more quiet it is around here now"

He sent Jacob a little amused smile, and I knew he was both joking and telling the truth at the same time. Jacob's thoughts were loud.

Emmett and Rosalie entered just then. Rosalie sent me a warm smile, and she even spared one for Jacob. Emmett was uncharacteristically grave. I smiled at him and turned my head to the side as if to ask what was wrong, but he didn't look at me at all. He stared right at Jacob. Then he flexed his muscles.

"Oh, for the love of god" dad said and buried his face in his hands.

"What?" I said, looking back and forth between my dad and Emmett. Emmett was still glaring at Jacob, he hadn't even cast a glance in my direction. Jacob looked confused. I looked at dad for some sort of explanation because Emmett was obviously not going to give me any.

Dad sighed. "Emmett doesn't approve"

"Doesn't approve? Of what_?_" I asked, my voice careful.

Dad didn't answer, he just looked at me pointedly. And then I realized. Emmett didn't approve of me and Jacob's new...ah...relations.

"Really?" I looked up at Emmett. I guess I should be embarrassed that this became the topic of the conversation _again,_ but I was really more amused than anything. Emmett? My uncle Emmett? That couldn't be.

"She's just a little girl!" Emmett snarled then. His stare had never wavered from Jacob. I noticed that he was flexing his muscles again. Jacob looked like he didn't quite know what to believe.

"Emmett!" I said loudly. His gaze glanced over to me for the tenth of a second. "What are you talking about?"

His mouth tightened. Again, very uncharacteristic. I almost didn't recognize him this serious.

"I think someone's a bit over-protective " Rosalie said dryly.

To my great surprise a giggle escaped my lips. I should be embarrassed. But this was kind of funny. _Emmett _was feeling over protective? About _this? _He was almost having a worse reaction to this than my dad!

Dad chuckled a little as he heard my thoughts. And then Rosalie started giggling as well. And I heard a little snicker from Jacob behind me. I couldn't help it any more, and I started laughing for real. The next thing I knew everyone in the living room were laughing, everyone apart from Emmett.

He looked around then, confused. This had not been the reaction he had expected. He had probably expected an argument, a fight even. It didn't last long before his lips twisted upwards as well. Of course Emmett wouldn't stay serious for a long time. I'd only seen him serious a few times in my short life, all countable on one hand. And a joined laughter like this; well he simply couldn't resist that.

When my laughed eased and I started drying my eyes with my sleeve, Emmett looked down at Jacob. I could see Emmett wanted to be serious, but he didn't quite manage.

"You just...just...be good to her, all right? Be good." he said. It was almost like he was giving him an order.

"Hey. There's no need to talk to him like he's a dog." I interrupted.

I heard Jacob snicker beside me at my choice of words.

"Oh, shut up, Jacob" I said. "You know what I mean"

"But you talk to me like I'm a dog all the time" he laughed behind me.

I turned to glare at him. "I do not!"

He just kept laughing and nodded. I looked around the room and realized every one of my family was grinning as well.

"I don't!" I said again. "Do I?"

Emmett laughed then. His normal easy-going laughter that inclined he soon was about to make a joke or two. "You do order him around sometimes._ Come here, Jacob. Shut up, Jacob. _It's very entertaining. I wonder how you talk to him when you two are alone and..."

"I think we'll just leave now" I said quickly, as I felt my blush begin to blossom. Emmett was dangerously close to being his normal self, and I had my guesses what his next favorite topic would be.

"You two behave now," Emmett snickered.

"Sure."

"Don't do anything a dog wouldn't do."

His voice implied everything that his words did not.

"Get up, Jacob." I stood up abruptly "We're leaving."

Emmet snickered again, before he leaned down to whisper loud and clear into Rosalie's ear. "See, she already orders him around. Just like a dog. '_Get_ _up'_. Wonder if that's how she get's him going. Get _up. _You see the double meaning in those words right? She want's to go home so that she can get some_._"

He barely got to finish that last word though, before my dad reached out and pushed him on the side, flipping the chair away from him. Emmett fell down from the chair and hit the floor with a loud thud. I didn't stay around to see what happened next though, but dragged Jacob by the hand out of the house. Emmet's roaring laughter followed us all the way into the back yard.

Outside we were faced with The Happy Couple. Great. Seth was laughing and Joan seemed pleased and intrigued. Both their eyes were literary sparkling. I was happy for then though. I just wasn't happy for _me. _

Suddenly I felt a bit grumpy. Made fun of inside, third wheel outside. _Not wanted by friends, made fun of by family. _

I knew I was being unreasonable and I knew it wasn't true. But my mood was sulky and I didn't care if I whined a little. It was only inside my head, after all. One should be allowed to think grumbly thoughts now and then.

A pair of arms wrapped around me then, and Jacob hugged me tight to him. He rested his chin on my shoulder, and I smiled despite myself.

_Wanted by boyfriend. _

"Let's get out of here" he said, as if he'd read my mind.

I nodded tiredly. Before we left I turned around and called out to Joan. "I take it I don't need to drive you home?"

She barely heard me, she was so busy laughing with Seth.

"I can drive you home," Seth said to her, and she smiled.

_Fine. _Don't even bother to answer _me. _Whatever.

* * *

"Am I being selfish?" I asked. We were sitting on the couch in Jacob's house, and my mood was still low. "I mean, I am happy for them, I really am. But I don't know how she will take all this. When he tells her."

"You're afraid she'll be mad at you." Jacob said quietly.

"Yeah" my voice was dragging.

"Nessie, you're thinking way to much ahead. They just met."

"Still."

"Don't be such a pessimist."

"I'm not pessimistic, I'm being realistic."

Jacob smirked a little. "Pessimist."

"I'm not!" I smacked his shoulder and he laughed. He wound his arm around my waist and pulled me back on the couch to lay on top of him.

"You really should know by now that violence isn't the solution to everything," he chuckled.

I rested my chin on his chest and looked at him.

"It's the solution to making you stop being silly" I said. "You should be glad I've stopped biting you."

He laughed. "Maybe I'll get you a punching bag for Christmas" he said. "In case you wear me out by then"

"Funny" I mouthed as he put his hands behind my neck to pull me closer. "I can think of another way to wear you out"

He kissed me then, and I kissed him back and my mind stopped thinking all together. I stopped thinking about Seth and I stopped thinking about Joan and I stopped thinking about everything that could or would happen in the future.

Almost.

"But seriously, how do you think she will take it?" I broke free from his lips. "You don't think she'll be mad?"

Jacob gazed up at me. "Do you really want to talk about that now?" In a sudden movement he flipped us both over, making me squeal in surprise. He pressed me down in the soft cushions of the sofa. "Because I know I don't" he finished, before his lips crashed back down on mine.

I quickly forgot pretty much everything else.

Wow. One day can turn out quite different from what you expect. This morning I had expected to go to school and then maybe see Jacob. Instead I had brought my soon-to-be-imprinted-on human best friend with me home, watched her get the magic spell by my best wolf friend, gone inside only to have my sex-life harassed by my supposed over-protective uncle, and now I was looking up at Jacob in his boxers laying over me on the sofa. All in all it had been a tiresome day. Except for that last part.

"What are you staring at?" Jacob said, pretending to be self conscious. I knew he wasn't really. Jacob was never self conscious with me.

"Oh, nothing important" I teased, and he pretended to be offended. He knew I was just teasing. He wasn't a very good actor, Jacob.

"Come here" he said, his voice turning warm. Who could resist that? I stretched up, and he kissed me softly, placing his hands around my waist to hold me to him. He guided his hands down to push aside my remaining clothes as I did the same with his. I feverishly hoped no one were to walk by the house and look through the window right now, we were in fact on the couch in the living room. Thankfully, we would hear if someone arrived.

And thankfully, no one did.

It started out slow and tentative. His lips against mine were soft and kind, and my hands were fluttering lightly over his chest and shoulders. It was very sweet and tender, and when he pressed into me he was very slow and careful and it didn't hurt at all. In danger of sounding very cliche; it was romantic. It really was no other word for it.

He kept placing featherlight kisses all over my face while he gently moved his hips against mine. Without thinking, I wound my arms up to caress his face, but he stopped me then, holding my wrists in a tight grip.

"Oh no," he warned me. "You know what happens if you do that"

Emotion flushed over me as I remembered that first time. I had, without meaning to do so, placed my hands on his neck, and the pleasure from two had been to much for one.

I yanked my head up and kissed him then, a movement far from slow and tentative. He reacted the same way, and mashed my head back down in the cushions, kissing me just as fierce. He pinned my hands down in the pillows over my head as he increased the pace with his hips.

My breaths were quickly becoming uneven, but I never removed my lips from his. I moved my legs up to wrap around him, and Jacob groaned loudly into my mouth. A crashing new wave of sensations started to flood through me. Boy, did he hit spots he'd never hit before. He kept pondering and it didn't last long before I tilted my head backwards into the cushions. His lips moved from mine only to trace hungrily down my chest. I forced my hands free from his grasp then, and just as I dived over I put them around his neck.

The word became incoherent, and it stayed like that for quite a while. I felt Jacob shudder over me, and I think he cursed out loud and then said something but I had no idea what.

When I opened my eyes, he was looking at me with hazy, heavy-lidded eyes. He smiled and shook his head like in awe, as if he couldn't find a thing to say.

I reached up and kissed him tenderly before I removed my hands from his face. I had to let the boy breathe.

* * *

_A.N: Thanks for reading! There will be a ending-chapter-epilogue-thing up within a week, so stay with this story a bit more:)_


	25. What do they put in the water

**What do they put in the water**

_Epilogue, sort of._

* * *

As the week shredded to an end, so did my last remaining days of High School. I still had no idea what to do or where to go or if I was going anywhere next year. One thing I knew though, was that wherever I was, Jacob would be too. I wouldn't go anywhere without him close by. Not because I ruled my life by his pipe, rather the opposite. Because he simply couldn't bear to be away from me for a longer period of time. Consequence of imprinting, I guess.

I could go to college and see him in the weekends. It was doable. But it would be hard for him. And I would miss him too, of course, it wasn't just a one-way road. I had applied to a bunch of colleges and gotten accepted to most. I had replied to none. I simply didn't know yet. Where to go, what to do. Family, Jacob, college. Didn't know.

Graduation went smooth. I got up there, got my diploma, shook hands, got down. My family was there, and Jacob and grandpa Charlie and Sue. And Seth. He said he was there to see me of course, but since Joan was third behind me in the line I doubted it was just for me. Harr-de-harr.

My selfishness had gradually slipped away and I was heartily happy for them. Still worried about what would happen when she found out, but Jacob was right. We would worry about that when it happened. Joan was thrilled about Seth. She couldn't stop telling me about how awesome he was, and they had been on one movie-date and shared two shy kisses on Seth's front porch._ Aww._

"So, how does it feel?"

I was walking hand in hand with Jacob through the forest on towards Emily's house. It was Friday and the day after graduation. I was now officially free to do whatever I wanted. It felt...weird.

"I don't think I've grasped it yet" I said, jumping over a puddle on the ground. It had been raining. "It's a bit sad. I'll miss my human friends"

My human friends were spread for the winds, going to different collages all over. We'd told each other we would meet, but I didn't know if I could keep that if my family moved to Michigan or Cuba or...i dunno, Russia.

"I guess you'll still see Joan, then," Jacob smiled back.

"Yeah I guess so." If everything turned out well. That was the one advantage from this whole mess. Thank you, Seth.

I jumped over another puddle. "What do you want to do now, Jacob?"

"We could maybe go and grab some food. Or go hunting if you like?" He smiled down at me.

"No" I said, "I mean, yes we could, but that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I mean, what do you want to do now, like after the summer. Do you want to go to college?" I looked at him quizzically.

"I don't know" he said quietly. "I don't know if I'll be able to do that"

I knew that. Jacob had responsibilities. He was alpha.

"But can't they manage?" I asked hesitantly, referring to the pack. "I mean, if you really wanted to go...somewhere, college for example...Wouldn't they be able to take care of them selves?"

"Yes, they would. Of course." He looked down at me. "If I stopped being the alpha someone else would take that place."

"But you could go to a college in Port Angeles, for example. And then come back here in the weekends. And you could still be a part of the pack and still live close by. So you wouldn't have to choose"

He thought about that. "Yeah, I guess I could do that. I mean, it's possible"

"Mmm." I didn't know what else to say.

"Why are you asking about this?" He tugged our entwined hands, making me look at him. His eyes were kind and curious. "Do _you _want to go to college, Nessie?"

"I don't know" I said truthfully. "I just wanted to find out what _you _wanted."

He looked at me and frowned, willing me to continue. So I did.

"I mean" I looked down, trying to find the right words. "You've always been there. For me. You put everything on hold for me. School, graduation...I feel like I've sort of delayed your life with seven years. So I thought, instead of you following me around and doing everything I wanted, for once we could do something that you..."

I didn't get to finish, because his lips cut me off right then, gushing the air out of me in surprise. I managed to tear my lips away from his though, and continued.  
"I just thought that if you maybe wanted to go somewhere or do something, then we could..."

He leaned down and interrupted me with another kiss. I felt my back being pressed up against a tree, and some leaves flew past us landing on Jacob's shoulders. I managed to break free again.

"Then we could do that, since you've already put so much on hold for..." His lips crashed back down on mine, interrupting me once again. Another leaf flew past us. "For me" I finished, mumbling against his lips.

"You wont ever stop, will you?" he laughed. Then he pulled back to put a hand on each side of my face. "I haven't put anything on hold" he said. "I haven't ever been so happy as when I've been with you."

He smiled and I couldn't help but smile back. I knew he was telling the truth. I streched up on my toes to kiss him again, properly this time. We were interrupted by a loud growl coming from his stomack.

"Hey" he mumbled against my lips, before he broke free completely. "Do you think you can make some food at Emily's? I'm starving."

I laughed. "Hey, back up there. I'm not your housemaid. When we get married, I wont be slaving in the kitchen for you."

I'd meant it as a joke, but I immediately wished I hadn't said anything. The silence that fell between us was sudden and heavy as iron. Jacob had gotten an odd expression in his eyes as soon as I mentioned the word 'married'. He looked at me with an unreadable expression and I immediately wanted to backtrack.

"_When _we get married?" he repeated, raising one eyebrow. There was a little smile playing on his lips.

Oh, kill me now.

"If. If if if if if," I hurried to say. Why had I said that? Now he would think I wanted to get married, that I had planned this all out. It was just a joke, I'd never even been thinking about it. Marriage? Grownups married. Not us, not now. Maybe, in a distant future. Yes, maybe far away in the future. Now, I'd never even been thinking the thought. But still, it stung a little that he seemed so averted to it.

I buried my face in my hands, and peeked up at him through my fingers. He was smiling.

"When" he stated simply, and my heart missed a few beats. When it started beating again it sounded like a frantic drum.

"What?" I said weakly, both embarrassed at my own slip and dumbfounded by his answer. Did he really mean that?

"When, Nessie. When." he laughed. He smiled down at me, his eyes warm. Then he grabbed my hand in his and started walking in the direction of Emily's house.

Right there, I stopped worrying about the future. We would take what happened when it did. I was only sure about one thing; that Jacob and I would stay together. No matter what. That was all I needed to know.

* * *

A bunch of people were already there, some sitting on Emily's front porch, some leaning against the banister. Emily herself was fluttering back and forth, and Sam was trailing behind her. Paul and Jared were both leaning casually against the banister just as another car arrived. They both greeted us loudly, overshadowing everyone else.

I turned around to see Joan and Seth both climb out of Joan's old car across the lawn. I waved at her and she smiled and started walking in my direction. She looked a bit nervous, and seemed happy to see someone she knew.

"Hi" I walked over to meet her half way. She smiled absentmindedly as she looked around. Her gaze landed on the gang of boys leaning against the porch. Jared and Paul were there, as was Sam, Colin and Embry. Seth walked over to the porch and joined them. Jacob stood a few meters away talking to Rachel.

"Woah" Joan leaned forward and whispered in my ear "What do they put in the water down here?"

Her voice was impressed. I guess I could understand her. The guys were buff. And half-naked, as always. I guess to one who didn't know about the wolves and the packs, seven overly muscular bare-chested Quileute guys like these gave some impression.

"It runs in the family" I whispered back.

Well it was true. The wolf-gene did run in the family.

As I was talking to Joan, I overheard someone say Joan's name. She couldn't hear it of course, with her human ears. I looked over to the porch to find Rachel and Jacob talking. It was Rachel who had said Joan's name, and now she was moving her gaze back and forth between her and Seth.

"He really likes her, huh?" I heard her say as she eyed Seth, who kept sending Joan longing glances from his stance at the porch . Her look was both intrigued and a little worried.

That was one heavy underestimation. Jacob laughed.

"Yep. Our little brother has done the deed"

"What?" Rachel hissed, trying to keep her voice to a whisper. "He's slept with...?"

"No, stupid. He imprinted"

"He...? Oh." Realization dawned on her face "Well that explains it"

Jacob chuckled.

"You have a leaf in your hair" Joan interrupted my eaves-dropping, reminding me that we were supposed to be in the middle of a conversation. She stretched up and pulled it out. "What have you been up to? Rubbing against a tree?"

I blushed. She raised her eyebrows as she realized. She cast a glance over at Jacob before she sent me a wicked smile.

"You two! I thought the woods were made for animals"

I snickered inwards. _Look around, honey_, I thought, glancing over to the seven wolves standing on Emily's front porch._ Animals don't always stick to the forest. _

* * *

_A.N: The End. Sniff sniff:'( Hope you liked it. Thank you so much for reading this story! And to everyone who has ever reviewed, both Other Half and this: THANK YOU! You are amazing and I am amazed by the response I have received. Thank you for all the positive comments and suggestions, motivation and encouragements! Without those reviews, there would be no story either. Thanks to you who have followed this story throughout, and reviewed over and over (and over and over and over and over. You know who you are;)_

_This is the last Jacob/Nessie story I will be writing. At least I don't have any plans for another one right now. My head is filled with this other story I'm working on, which I hope I will start posting on soon. It's a Jacob/Bella story called **These days**_. _Keep your eyes open for it! You'll find it on my profile soon__:)_

_I hope it's not too confusing to have a Jacob/Bella story after two with Jacob and Reneesme. But I think the two relationships are very different, so I don't think the stories will be similar. Besides, **These days **will be written in JPOV which I'd come to like a lot:)_

_Again, thanks for reading Sweet thing. I have really enjoyed writing this story._


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